Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. Purchases New Holdings in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,058 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $337,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in IBM. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in International Business Machines by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 477,193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $78,045,000 after acquiring an additional 80,474 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its position in International Business Machines by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 372,307 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $52,235,000 after purchasing an additional 57,170 shares during the last quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. grew its position in International Business Machines by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 21,880 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,070,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Tsfg LLC raised 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 buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Auxano Advisors LLC raised its holdings in International Business Machines by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 3,398 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $556,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

International Business Machines Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:IBM traded up $1.52 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $169.90. The company had a trading volume of 3,487,427 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,933,271. The stock has a market cap of $156.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $185.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $171.88. International Business Machines Co. has a one year low of $120.55 and a one year high of $199.18.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.09. International Business Machines had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 40.21%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.92 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $1.67 dividend. This is a positive change from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is presently 75.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $165.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Evercore upgraded International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $165.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com lowered International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $181.29.

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.