Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. Takes Position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. acquired a new position in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 942 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IBM. Ellenbecker Investment Group boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 2.3% in the third quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group now owns 2,049 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Goldstein Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in International Business Machines by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,217 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC boosted its position in International Business Machines by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $298,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Sollinda Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 3.7% in the third quarter. Sollinda Capital Management LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lansing Street Advisors increased its position in shares of International Business Machines by 3.4% during the third quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 1,503 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at International Business Machines

In related news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.20, for a total value of $774,720.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 25,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,463,928. This trade represents a 12.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on IBM shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on International Business Machines from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Bernstein Bank lifted their price objective on International Business Machines from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Evercore ISI increased 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 report on Wednesday, September 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, International Business Machines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $208.12.

International Business Machines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:IBM traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $226.07. 441,349 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,234,120. The stock has a market cap of $209.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.93, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.71. International Business Machines Co. has a twelve month low of $154.75 and a twelve month high of $237.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $219.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $196.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16.

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

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 97.23%.

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.