International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Upgraded by Erste Group Bank to Buy Rating

Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on IBM. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Friday, November 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $360.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings raised shares of International Business Machines from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Bank of America increased their price target on International Business Machines from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $291.08.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

Shares of IBM stock opened at $308.09 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $296.91 and a 200 day moving average of $276.36. International Business Machines has a 1 year low of $214.50 and a 1 year high of $324.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $287.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.69.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The technology company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.20. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 37.76% and a net margin of 12.09%.The business had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that International Business Machines will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th will be paid a $1.68 dividend. This represents a $6.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is currently 80.38%.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IBM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 724,832 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in International Business Machines by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,536,963 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,076,406,000 after purchasing an additional 147,721 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in International Business Machines by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,936,235 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,444,527,000 after purchasing an additional 400,131 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in International Business Machines by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,045,156 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,809,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,077,506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in International Business Machines by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 8,636,725 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,147,608,000 after purchasing an additional 524,633 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

International Business Machines Company Profile

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.