FourThought Financial Partners LLC Trims Stake in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC cut its position in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,497 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 166 shares during the period. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $572,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IBM. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in International Business Machines in the third quarter worth $31,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 971.4% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 225 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 67.9% during the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 225 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, Cordant Inc. increased its stake in International Business Machines by 753.3% in the 4th quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 256 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore raised shares of International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Friday, January 19th. BNP Paribas started coverage on International Business Machines in a research note on Thursday. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $145.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on International Business Machines from $186.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, International Business Machines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $181.29.

International Business Machines Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of International Business Machines stock traded up $1.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $165.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,400,405 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,768,629. International Business Machines Co. has a 1-year low of $120.55 and a 1-year high of $199.18. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $185.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $171.44. 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 market cap of $152.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.92 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. This is a boost from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.66. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.20%.

About International Business Machines

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.