Paradigm Financial Partners LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Paradigm Financial Partners LLC trimmed its position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,353 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 917 shares during the period. Paradigm Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $1,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,076,195 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,515,290,000 after buying an additional 365,388 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 13.4% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,257,789 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,280,968,000 after buying an additional 1,919,490 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 4.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,970,674 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,398,886,000 after buying an additional 404,948 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in International Business Machines by 10.2% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,691,369 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,219,399,000 after purchasing an additional 807,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in International Business Machines by 15.9% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 6,345,842 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $890,322,000 after purchasing an additional 871,247 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

International Business Machines Trading Down 1.1 %

IBM stock traded down $1.78 on Friday, reaching $167.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,983,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,906,041. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $187.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.34. International Business Machines Co. has a 12-month low of $120.55 and a 12-month high of $199.18. The firm has a market cap of $153.21 billion, a PE ratio of 18.93, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.13.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.09. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.21% and a net margin of 13.18%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.99 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 9th were given a dividend of $1.66 per share. This represents a $6.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $179.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Evercore upgraded shares of International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $200.00 in a report on Friday, January 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $184.08.

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.