SFE Investment Counsel Sells 895 Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

SFE Investment Counsel trimmed its position in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,518 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 895 shares during the quarter. International Business Machines accounts for 1.4% of SFE Investment Counsel’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $5,482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of IBM. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in International Business Machines by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,940 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Avion Wealth increased its stake in International Business Machines by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 964 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Financial Security Advisor Inc. increased its stake in International Business Machines by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 2,346 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in International Business Machines by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,734 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. increased its stake in International Business Machines by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 7,131 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,166,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on IBM. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore upgraded International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Friday, January 19th. StockNews.com lowered International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on International Business Machines in a research report on Friday, January 5th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on International Business Machines from $165.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, International Business Machines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $178.67.

International Business Machines Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:IBM traded down $1.95 on Thursday, reaching $181.15. The company had a trading volume of 1,810,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,788,086. International Business Machines Co. has a 52-week low of $120.55 and a 52-week high of $199.18. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $188.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.07 billion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The technology company reported $3.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.78 by $0.09. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 39.55% and a net margin of 12.13%. The business had revenue of $17.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.29 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.60 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were issued a $1.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $6.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.67%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.67%.

International Business Machines 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.