New England Professional Planning Group Inc. Buys Shares of 1,129 International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

New England Professional Planning Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,129 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in International Business Machines by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,152,714 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $16,833,642,000 after purchasing an additional 5,546,855 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 151.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,515,666 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $671,352,000 after buying an additional 2,118,165 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 306.3% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,401,798 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $242,441,000 after buying an additional 1,056,759 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 12,282.2% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 472,382 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $817,000 after buying an additional 468,567 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in International Business Machines by 6.4% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,366,715 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,274,074,000 after buying an additional 444,698 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

International Business Machines Price Performance

NYSE IBM traded down $1.62 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $231.40. 665,995 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,194,138. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $206.79 and a 200-day moving average of $187.34. International Business Machines Co. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $235.83. The stock has a market cap of $213.15 billion, a PE ratio of 25.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $2.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.27. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.59% and a net margin of 13.52%. The company had revenue of $15.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.18 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IBM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on International Business Machines from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on International Business Machines from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $211.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Bernstein Bank boosted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, International Business Machines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $198.41.

About International Business Machines

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.