International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Shares Sold by Smith Moore & CO.

Smith Moore & CO. trimmed its stake in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,245 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 202 shares during the quarter. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of IBM. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the fourth quarter valued at $242,000. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in International Business Machines in the 4th quarter worth about $1,940,000. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC acquired a new stake in International Business Machines during the 4th quarter worth about $373,000. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in International Business Machines by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 811,062 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $178,296,000 after acquiring an additional 49,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 75,638 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $16,615,000 after purchasing an additional 4,625 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IBM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on International Business Machines from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $231.13.

Insider Transactions at International Business Machines

In other news, SVP Robert David Thomas sold 26,543 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.01, for a total transaction of $6,715,644.43. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 45,007 shares in the company, valued at $11,387,221.07. The trade was a 37.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

International Business Machines Stock Down 6.6 %

Shares of IBM opened at $227.31 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $251.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $232.41. International Business Machines Co. has a one year low of $162.62 and a one year high of $266.45. The company has a market capitalization of $210.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.46, a PEG ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.15. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 9.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 104.21%.

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.