Bessemer Group Inc. Decreases Stake in International Business Machines Corporation $IBM

Bessemer Group Inc. lessened its holdings in International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) by 8.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 770,245 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 70,162 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $186,701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of IBM. Norges Bank bought a new stake in International Business Machines during the fourth quarter worth $2,446,429,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake in International Business Machines by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 22,021,912 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,523,720,000 after purchasing an additional 4,976,756 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in International Business Machines by 83.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,617,117 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,663,847,000 after purchasing an additional 2,553,552 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of International Business Machines by 359.6% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,896,675 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $561,814,000 after purchasing an additional 1,484,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 97,216,131 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,796,390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439,824 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IBM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of International Business Machines from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $315.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $267.00 to $293.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $301.83.

International Business Machines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:IBM opened at $219.39 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $206.21 billion, a PE ratio of 19.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $264.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $263.94. International Business Machines Corporation has a twelve month low of $204.44 and a twelve month high of $332.46.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $15.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.60 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 15.61% and a return on equity of 37.23%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that International Business Machines Corporation will post 12.33 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $1.69 per share. This represents a $6.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This is a positive change from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.68. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is presently 59.77%.

International Business Machines News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting International Business Machines this week:

• Negative Sentiment: IBM’s preliminary Q2 results came in below expectations, with softer revenue and adjusted EPS fueling the sharp selloff and a major reset in investor confidence. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Management said some large deals were delayed as customers reassessed spending, reinforcing concerns that IBM is being hurt by changing enterprise tech budgets and slower software demand. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Several reports highlighted the stock’s historic one-day drop, securities-fraud investigations, and analyst downgrades/target cuts, all of which can keep sentiment and trading pressure negative. Article Title

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.