Ledyard National Bank Increases Stock Holdings in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Ledyard National Bank grew its position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 13.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,644 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,241 shares during the quarter. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $1,741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $11,515,290,000 after buying an additional 365,388 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position 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 valued at $2,280,968,000 after buying an additional 1,919,490 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position 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 valued at $1,398,886,000 after buying an additional 404,948 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,219,399,000 after acquiring an additional 807,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $890,322,000 after acquiring an additional 871,247 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI raised International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on International Business Machines from $165.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on International Business Machines from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on International Business Machines from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on International Business Machines from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $184.08.

International Business Machines Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE IBM traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $167.51. The stock had a trading volume of 5,260,090 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,011,214. The company has a market capitalization of $153.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.97, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.70. International Business Machines Co. has a 1-year low of $120.55 and a 1-year high of $199.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $187.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.72.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. On average, analysts predict that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.99 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a $1.66 dividend. This represents a $6.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.