Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Stock Price

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) had its price objective boosted by Morgan Stanley from $208.00 to $222.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on International Business Machines from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $209.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on International Business Machines from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, International Business Machines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $208.94.

International Business Machines Price Performance

IBM opened at $220.17 on Monday. International Business Machines has a twelve month low of $157.88 and a twelve month high of $239.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16. The firm has a market cap of $203.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.05, a PEG ratio of 5.17 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $222.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $203.01.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.03. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.52% and a net margin of 10.22%. The business had revenue of $14.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.08 billion. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that International Business Machines will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.23%.

Insider Activity at International Business Machines

In related news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of International Business Machines stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.20, for a total transaction of $774,720.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 25,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,463,928. The trade was a 12.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On International Business Machines

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in International Business Machines during the third quarter valued at approximately $24,761,000. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the 3rd quarter valued at $249,000. 1ST Source Bank boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 31,244 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,907,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 10,660 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,357,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 2.5% during the third quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 34,793 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,692,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.