Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Raises Stock Holdings in International Business Machines Corporation $IBM

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its stake in International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) by 8.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 138,458 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,100 shares during the quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $39,067,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of IBM. Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 54.8% during the 3rd quarter. Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,130 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations grew its position in International Business Machines by 4.7% in the third quarter. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations now owns 35,672 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,065,000 after acquiring an additional 1,587 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell Capital Management Co. grew its position in International Business Machines by 116.6% in the third quarter. Mitchell Capital Management Co. now owns 22,459 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,337,000 after acquiring an additional 12,091 shares in the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. increased its stake in International Business Machines by 4.3% in the third quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 17,568 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,957,000 after acquiring an additional 725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. raised its position in International Business Machines by 7.0% during the third quarter. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. now owns 2,785 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $786,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

Shares of IBM stock opened at $272.95 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $255.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.48, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.69. International Business Machines Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $214.50 and a fifty-two week high of $324.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $301.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $284.05.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $4.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.33 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $19.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 15.69% and a return on equity of 38.15%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.92 earnings per share. Analysts expect that International Business Machines Corporation will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.68 per share. This represents a $6.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 10th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.27%.

Insider Activity

In other International Business Machines news, Director David N. Farr purchased 1,000 shares of International Business Machines stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $304.00 per share, for a total transaction of $304,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,814,432. This trade represents a 12.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IBM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer set a $380.00 price target on International Business Machines and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on International Business Machines from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $304.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $330.07.

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.