Verus Financial Partners Inc. Increases Position in International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM)

Verus Financial Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) by 55.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,615 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,350 shares during the period. Verus Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $1,592,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of IBM. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 21,011 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,619,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 81.5% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,686 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $591,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 485,334 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $106,691,000 after purchasing an additional 41,683 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,386,000. Finally, Mosley Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Mosley Wealth Management now owns 2,197 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Price Performance

NYSE IBM opened at $286.04 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $276.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $254.50. International Business Machines Corporation has a 1 year low of $181.81 and a 1 year high of $296.16. The company has a market cap of $265.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.23, a PEG ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 0.69.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.18. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 37.43% and a net margin of 8.71%. The firm had revenue of $14.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that International Business Machines Corporation will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were given a $1.68 dividend. This represents a $6.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. This is an increase from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on IBM shares. Wall Street Zen lowered International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Saturday, May 10th. Melius Research raised shares of International Business Machines to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective (up previously from $170.00) on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $266.19.

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.