International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Shares Sold by Altshuler Shaham Ltd

Altshuler Shaham Ltd cut its stake in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 75.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 571 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,767 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $93,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IBM. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in International Business Machines by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 477,193 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $78,045,000 after purchasing an additional 80,474 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its holdings in International Business Machines by 18.1% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 372,307 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $52,235,000 after purchasing an additional 57,170 shares during the period. Herold Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in International Business Machines by 3.2% in the third quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 21,880 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,070,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares during the period. Tsfg LLC lifted its holdings in International Business Machines by 40.5% in the fourth quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 378 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Auxano Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in International Business Machines by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 3,398 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $556,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

International Business Machines Price Performance

International Business Machines stock traded down $3.60 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $166.30. 4,266,007 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,926,219. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $184.80 and a 200 day moving average of $171.86. International Business Machines Co. has a 1-year low of $120.55 and a 1-year high of $199.18. The company has a market capitalization of $152.76 billion, a PE ratio of 18.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 period last year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.92 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This is a positive change from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.66. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.02%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on International Business Machines from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein increased 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Three research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, International Business Machines presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $181.29.

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.