First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Trims Holdings in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. cut its stake in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 48,301 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,168 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $10,618,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of International Business Machines by 20,324.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,715,636 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $600,373,000 after acquiring an additional 2,702,340 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in International Business Machines in the third quarter worth $573,306,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in International Business Machines by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 55,671,883 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,307,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200,803 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 587.1% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 628,213 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $134,262,000 after buying an additional 536,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 103.1% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 886,323 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $195,948,000 after buying an additional 449,912 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.20, for a total value of $774,720.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 25,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,463,928. This trade represents a 12.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on IBM shares. StockNews.com downgraded International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Thursday, October 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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 report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, DZ Bank lowered International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $215.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, International Business Machines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $220.73.

International Business Machines Price Performance

NYSE IBM opened at $224.69 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $224.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $212.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16. International Business Machines Co. has a 1 year low of $162.62 and a 1 year high of $239.35. The company has a market cap of $207.75 billion, a PE ratio of 32.71, a PEG ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.74.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $14.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.20 earnings per share. International Business Machines’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.16 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 97.23%.

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.