RFP Financial Group LLC Invests $208,000 in International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM)

RFP Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 838 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its holdings in International Business Machines by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 495,574 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $108,942,000 after buying an additional 4,131 shares in the last quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new stake in International Business Machines during the fourth quarter worth $3,000,000. Magnolia Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in International Business Machines in the 1st quarter valued at $239,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in International Business Machines by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 150,652 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,118,000 after purchasing an additional 10,467 shares during the period. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in International Business Machines by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 141,448 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,172,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $170.00 price target (up previously from $160.00) on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on International Business Machines from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Erste Group Bank raised International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.75.

International Business Machines Price Performance

Shares of IBM stock opened at $280.67 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $260.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.31, a P/E/G ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.66. International Business Machines Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $170.41 and a fifty-two week high of $286.91. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $257.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $245.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.01.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $14.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.41 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 37.43% and a net margin of 8.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Corporation will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a dividend of $1.68 per share. This is a boost from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $6.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is presently 115.66%.

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.