Merit Financial Group LLC Cuts Position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Merit Financial Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,363 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 327 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $2,186,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 971.4% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 225 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 67.9% in the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 225 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cordant Inc. grew its holdings in International Business Machines by 753.3% in the fourth quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 256 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Friday, January 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $165.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Three 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $181.29.

International Business Machines Trading Up 0.6 %

IBM opened at $165.71 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.22 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $185.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $171.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.09. International Business Machines Co. has a 12-month low of $120.55 and a 12-month high of $199.18.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.09. The firm 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. This is a boost from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio 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.