International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Stake Boosted by Great Lakes Retirement Inc.

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. increased its position in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,347 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $2,822,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IBM. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 413.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,984,609 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,634,577,000 after purchasing an additional 9,650,534 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in International Business Machines in the fourth quarter valued at $1,236,176,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 29,564.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,399,790 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,940,520,000 after buying an additional 4,384,958 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in International Business Machines in the fourth quarter valued at $592,746,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,845,993 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,384,275,000 after buying an additional 1,704,209 shares during the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Erste Group Bank upgraded International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $170.00 price objective (up from $160.00) on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $237.00 to $233.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $250.31.

International Business Machines Stock Down 1.5%

IBM stock opened at $276.84 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $257.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.19, a P/E/G ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.66. International Business Machines Co. has a 52-week low of $167.50 and a 52-week high of $283.06. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $252.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $243.90.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $14.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.41 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 9.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.78 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a $1.68 dividend. This is an increase from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $6.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is 115.66%.

International Business Machines Company 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.