Verity & Verity LLC Raises Position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Verity & Verity LLC boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 102,867 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 793 shares during the period. International Business Machines makes up 2.2% of Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $22,742,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,487,827 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,467,974,000 after purchasing an additional 330,694 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in International Business Machines by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,366,715 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,274,074,000 after purchasing an additional 444,698 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 6.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,796,206 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $829,431,000 after buying an additional 304,390 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 151.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,515,666 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $671,352,000 after buying an additional 2,118,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 0.5% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,726,700 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $602,819,000 after buying an additional 12,400 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

International Business Machines Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of IBM stock opened at $208.09 on Tuesday. International Business Machines Co. has a 1-year low of $152.35 and a 1-year high of $237.37. The company has a market cap of $192.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.29, a PEG ratio of 4.60 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $218.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.18.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $14.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.08 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 40.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.20 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 97.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upped their target price on International Business Machines from $209.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on International Business Machines from $217.00 to $208.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bernstein Bank lifted their target price on International Business Machines from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $200.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $208.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of International Business Machines stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.20, for a total transaction of $774,720.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 25,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,463,928. The trade was a 12.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.