International Business Machines Corporation $IBM Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) by 27.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 428,026 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 158,056 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $120,491,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 0.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,776,307 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,024,243,000 after purchasing an additional 724,832 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in International Business Machines by 0.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,536,963 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,076,406,000 after buying an additional 147,721 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in International Business Machines by 1.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,936,235 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,444,527,000 after buying an additional 400,131 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in International Business Machines by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,126,503 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,100,751,000 after buying an additional 234,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in International Business Machines in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,011,122,000. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IBM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore boosted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $312.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $320.87.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

International Business Machines stock opened at $253.38 on Tuesday. International Business Machines Corporation has a 12-month low of $214.50 and a 12-month high of $324.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $237.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $280.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $284.68.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $4.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.33 by $0.19. International Business Machines had a net margin of 15.69% and a return on equity of 38.15%. The company had revenue of $19.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that International Business Machines Corporation will post 10.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be issued a $1.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $6.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other International Business Machines news, Director David N. Farr bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $304.00 per share, with a total value of $304,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,814,432. This trade represents a 12.11% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Michael Miebach bought 434 shares of International Business Machines stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $233.33 per share, with a total value of $101,265.22. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,265.22. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 1,484 shares of company stock valued at $417,157. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About International Business Machines

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is a global technology and consulting company headquartered in Armonk, New York. Founded in 1911 as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR) and renamed IBM in 1924, the company has evolved from early electromechanical machines to a diversified technology provider serving enterprises and governments worldwide. IBM is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol IBM.

IBM’s principal businesses encompass cloud computing and software, infrastructure and systems, consulting and technology services, and research and development.