International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Receives “Outperform” Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $276.00 price target on the technology company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 14.61% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on IBM. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Erste Group Bank raised International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on International Business Machines in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $320.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on International Business Machines from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $232.75.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

IBM stock traded up $5.33 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $240.81. The stock had a trading volume of 539,963 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,204,065. International Business Machines has a 52-week low of $162.62 and a 52-week high of $266.45. The stock has a market cap of $223.29 billion, a PE ratio of 37.57, a P/E/G ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $249.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $233.02.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.15. International Business Machines had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 38.99%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that International Business Machines will post 10.78 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Robert David Thomas sold 26,543 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.01, for a total value of $6,715,644.43. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 45,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,387,221.07. The trade was a 37.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IBM. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 18.4% in the 1st quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,752 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $436,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. Piscataqua Savings Bank boosted its holdings in International Business Machines by 12.8% during the first quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 3,398 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $845,000 after buying an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Persium Advisors LLC increased its holdings in International Business Machines by 2.3% in the first quarter. Persium Advisors LLC now owns 3,160 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $786,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Holland Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Holland Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,445 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intergy Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,746 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,180,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About International Business Machines

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.