St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC Grows Holdings in International Business Machines Corporation $IBM

St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC grew its position in International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) by 34.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 14,234 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,659 shares during the quarter. International Business Machines accounts for about 2.1% of St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $4,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in International Business Machines by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 97,216,131 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,796,390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439,824 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in International Business Machines by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,996,293 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,290,452,000 after purchasing an additional 518,321 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in International Business Machines by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,605,083 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,679,105,000 after purchasing an additional 336,069 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in International Business Machines by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 22,021,912 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,523,720,000 after purchasing an additional 4,976,756 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of International Business Machines by 7.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,063,653 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,893,669,000 after buying an additional 1,049,602 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IBM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler upgraded International Business Machines to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wolfe Research lowered shares of International Business Machines to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. DZ Bank upgraded shares of International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $295.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $320.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $265.40.

International Business Machines News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting International Business Machines this week:

• Positive Sentiment: IBM’s Maximo Application Suite as a Service received FedRAMP Moderate authorization, allowing U.S. federal agencies to use its cloud-based asset-management tools in regulated environments. The approval could expand IBM’s government software pipeline and reinforce its position in secure hybrid cloud services. IBM Maximo Application Suite Achieves FedRAMP Moderate Authorization
• Neutral Sentiment: IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said quantum computing could begin contributing meaningfully to revenue and profit by 2028 or 2029. The forecast supports IBM’s long-term technology narrative, but the benefits remain several years away and are unlikely to offset current mainframe concerns. IBM’s Arvind Krishna Predicts Quantum Computing Will Become a Meaningful Business by 2028
• Neutral Sentiment: IBM reportedly transferred nearly 1,000 blockchain patents to Circle, which may provide incremental monetization and demonstrate the value of IBM’s intellectual property portfolio. However, the transaction is not presented as a major near-term earnings catalyst. Circle’s IBM Patent Deal Could Redraw the Stablecoin Infrastructure Race
• Negative Sentiment: Hagens Berman and Bleichmar Fonti & Auld announced investigations into potential securities-law violations tied to alleged misrepresentations concerning the IBM Z product slowdown. The investigations follow the approximately 25% one-day decline reported after IBM’s July 14 preview of weak second-quarter results, adding legal and reputational overhang. The announcements are allegations, not findings of wrongdoing. IBM $68 Billion Wipeout Amid Z Shortfall Triggers Investigation
• Negative Sentiment: Kyndryl’s earnings commentary cited persistent IBM-related revenue declines, suggesting continued pressure in IBM’s legacy infrastructure and services ecosystem. This reinforces investor concerns that AI-led growth may not yet be fully compensating for weakness in traditional businesses. Kyndryl Earnings Call Highlights

International Business Machines Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of IBM opened at $233.52 on Friday. International Business Machines Corporation has a 52-week low of $199.19 and a 52-week high of $332.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $259.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $255.42. The company has a market capitalization of $220.01 billion, a PE ratio of 20.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.70.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.93. International Business Machines had a net margin of 15.52% and a return on equity of 35.65%. The firm had revenue of $17.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that International Business Machines Corporation will post 12.34 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th will be issued a $1.69 dividend. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 10th. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 59.98%.

International Business Machines Company Profile

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is a global technology and consulting company headquartered in Armonk, New York. Founded in 1911 as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR) and renamed IBM in 1924, the company has evolved from early electromechanical machines to a diversified technology provider serving enterprises and governments worldwide. IBM is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol IBM.

IBM’s principal businesses encompass cloud computing and software, infrastructure and systems, consulting and technology services, and research and development.