Argyle Capital Management Inc. Sells 4,780 Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Argyle Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 17.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 23,177 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 4,780 shares during the quarter. International Business Machines makes up 1.6% of Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $3,791,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,076,195 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,515,290,000 after purchasing an additional 365,388 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in International Business Machines by 13.4% during 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 grew its position in International Business Machines by 4.2% during 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 grew its position in International Business Machines by 10.2% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,691,369 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,219,399,000 after buying an additional 807,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in International Business Machines by 15.9% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 6,345,842 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $890,322,000 after buying an additional 871,247 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on IBM. Societe Generale restated a “sell” rating and set a $143.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Friday, January 5th. StockNews.com cut International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on International Business Machines from $165.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on International Business Machines from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on International Business Machines from $186.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, International Business Machines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $184.08.

International Business Machines Trading Down 1.1 %

IBM stock traded down $1.78 during trading on Friday, hitting $167.13. 8,983,796 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,906,041. The company has a 50-day moving average of $187.60 and a 200-day moving average of $170.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.21 billion, a PE ratio of 18.93, a P/E/G 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $120.55 and a 1 year high of $199.18.

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

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 75.20%.

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.