International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Shares Sold by ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC

ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC cut its position in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 14.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,161 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 7,922 shares during the quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $7,713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,076,195 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,515,290,000 after buying an additional 365,388 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 13.4% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,257,789 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,280,968,000 after buying an additional 1,919,490 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 4.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,970,674 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,398,886,000 after buying an additional 404,948 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 15.9% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 6,345,842 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $890,322,000 after buying an additional 871,247 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 15,439.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,653,462 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $433,974,000 after buying an additional 2,636,386 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IBM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore raised International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on International Business Machines from $186.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on International Business Machines from $165.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on International Business Machines from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on International Business Machines from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $181.29.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

NYSE:IBM traded up $1.02 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $165.71. 3,400,405 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,768,629. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $171.01. International Business Machines Co. has a 52 week low of $120.55 and a 52 week high of $199.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a $1.67 dividend. This is a boost from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.66. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.03%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is 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.