International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Trading Up 3.2% – Here’s Why

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) was up 3.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $299.89 and last traded at $299.09. Approximately 3,720,661 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 26% from the average daily volume of 5,057,307 shares. The stock had previously closed at $289.89.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on IBM. Wall Street Zen downgraded International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 11th. Dbs Bank upgraded International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Morgan Stanley set a $304.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $312.00 to $317.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $330.07.

International Business Machines Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $302.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $283.53. The firm has a market cap of $279.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.82, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued 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 return on equity of 38.15% and a net margin of 15.69%.The company had revenue of $19.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.92 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that International Business Machines Corporation will post 10.78 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.68 per share. This represents a $6.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 10th. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 60.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David N. Farr bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $304.00 per share, for a total transaction of $304,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 9,258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,814,432. The trade was a 12.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the 3rd quarter worth $852,000. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the second quarter valued at about $16,565,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 2.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,051,475 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,019,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,913,708 shares during the period. Thames Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in International Business Machines during the second quarter worth about $2,710,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in International Business Machines by 3.0% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 122,623 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,147,000 after purchasing an additional 3,537 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

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.