Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Has $16.92 Million Stock Position in International Business Machines Corporation $IBM

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 60,158 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,106 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $16,917,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 21,011 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,619,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,938 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $571,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in International Business Machines during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $211,000. Ieq Capital LLC grew its position in International Business Machines by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 38,617 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,383,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vivaldi Capital Management LP increased its holdings in International Business Machines by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 1,017 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting International Business Machines

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

• Positive Sentiment: IBM’s strategic partnership with OpenAI will embed OpenAI models and tools, including GPT-5.6, into IBM Consulting’s enterprise AI platform. IBM also plans to establish a dedicated OpenAI Practice and train thousands of consultants and engineers, potentially strengthening its position in regulated industries such as finance, government, telecommunications and retail. IBM partners with OpenAI to bolster enterprise AI push
• Positive Sentiment: IBM’s $240 million, multi-year agreement with Together AI will build an NVIDIA-powered AI inference cluster on IBM Cloud. Strong anticipated demand could support growth in IBM’s cloud infrastructure and high-performance AI workloads. Can IBM’s Together AI Cloud Deal Boost Its Growth Prospects?
• Positive Sentiment: IBM-reported research indicates that 85% of organizations planned to increase security spending by May, up from 64% during the prior period, as companies respond to frontier-AI cyber threats. This could benefit IBM’s cybersecurity, consulting and AI automation businesses. Frontier AI Threats Drive Companies to Boost Security Budgets
• Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage characterizes IBM as a relatively attractive technology investment because of its steadier earnings outlook, valuation and dividend, while other commentary highlights longer-term opportunities in quantum computing. These factors may provide support but are unlikely to resolve near-term growth concerns. AST SpaceMobile vs. IBM: Which Tech Stock is the Better Buy Now?
• Negative Sentiment: IBM’s shares have declined even after the OpenAI announcement, suggesting investors want evidence that the alliance can accelerate sales and profits. The partnership’s costs, implementation timeline and ability to convert consulting demand into recurring revenue remain key uncertainties. IBM Stock Drops Despite Major OpenAI Partnership
• Negative Sentiment: Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP announced an investigation into potential securities fraud following IBM’s significant stock decline. The announcement is primarily an attorney solicitation and does not establish wrongdoing, but it adds headline and litigation risk. IBM securities fraud investigation reminder

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of International Business Machines from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on International Business Machines from $293.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Argus dropped their price target on International Business Machines from $360.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on International Business Machines from $255.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 24th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $265.40.

International Business Machines Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE IBM opened at $234.79 on Friday. International Business Machines Corporation has a 52 week low of $199.19 and a 52 week high of $332.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $251.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $253.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.83, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.79.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.93. The firm had revenue of $17.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.46 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 15.52% and a return on equity of 35.65%. The company’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Corporation will post 12.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th will be paid a $1.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.98%.

International Business Machines Company Profile

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.