Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 573 Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,284 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 573 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $1,355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of IBM. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 15,439.1% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,653,462 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $433,974,000 after buying an additional 2,636,386 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,257,789 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,280,968,000 after buying an additional 1,919,490 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 6,345,842 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $890,322,000 after buying an additional 871,247 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,691,369 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,219,399,000 after purchasing an additional 807,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,970,674 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,398,886,000 after purchasing an additional 404,948 shares during the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on IBM shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $184.08.

International Business Machines Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of IBM opened at $167.20 on Friday. International Business Machines Co. has a 12 month low of $120.55 and a 12 month high of $199.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $187.60 and its 200-day moving average is $170.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.28 billion, a PE ratio of 18.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.53 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 40.21%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.99 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 9th. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a $1.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $6.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.20%.

International Business Machines Profile

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.