International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Shares Sold by Meitav Investment House Ltd.

Meitav Investment House Ltd. lowered its stake in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,959 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 112 shares during the quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of IBM. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P lifted its holdings in International Business Machines by 97.6% in the 1st quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P now owns 257,335 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,459,000 after acquiring an additional 127,093 shares during the last quarter. Roundview Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the 1st quarter valued at about $203,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 35.7% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 177,599 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $23,157,000 after purchasing an additional 46,756 shares during the period. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. grew its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 95,662 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,438,000 after buying an additional 1,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 382,232 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $49,698,000 after buying an additional 5,506 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

International Business Machines stock opened at $182.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $188.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.51. International Business Machines Co. has a 52-week low of $120.55 and a 52-week high of $199.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.70.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The technology company reported $3.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.78 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $17.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.29 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 39.55% and a net margin of 12.13%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 9th. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were issued a $1.66 dividend. This represents a $6.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is 81.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on International Business Machines from $155.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Bank of America increased their price objective on International Business Machines from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on International Business Machines in a research report on Friday, January 5th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Evercore upgraded International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $165.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Friday, January 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $176.85.

About International Business Machines

International Business Machines Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated solutions and services worldwide. The company operates through Software, Consulting, Infrastructure, and Financing segments. The Software segment offers a hybrid cloud and AI platforms that allows clients to realize their digital and AI transformations across the applications, data, and environments in which they operate.