Cetera Investment Advisers Increases Stock Position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 340.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 293,448 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 226,802 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in International Business Machines were worth $56,037,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IBM. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in International Business Machines by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,940 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Arden Trust Co raised its stake in International Business Machines by 2.8% during the first quarter. Arden Trust Co now owns 1,973 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in International Business Machines by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,007 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth raised its stake in International Business Machines by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 964 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its stake in International Business Machines by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,528 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,309,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on International Business Machines from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com raised International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on International Business Machines in a report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on International Business Machines in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $145.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $184.93.

International Business Machines Price Performance

NYSE IBM traded down $0.54 on Friday, reaching $189.12. 4,548,824 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,874,536. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $176.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. The company has a market cap of $174.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.42, a P/E/G ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.71. International Business Machines Co. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $199.18.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $2.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.27. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.59% and a net margin of 13.52%. The company had revenue of $15.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.18 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be given a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.65%.

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.