International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Shares Purchased by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 267,122 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,696 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $58,721,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $12,307,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200,803 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in International Business Machines by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,665,256 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,465,223,000 after purchasing an additional 126,547 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in International Business Machines by 6.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,195,933 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,148,717,000 after acquiring an additional 294,276 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,726,700 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $602,819,000 after purchasing an additional 12,400 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in International Business Machines during the third quarter valued at approximately $573,306,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IBM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wedbush started coverage on International Business Machines in a report on Monday, February 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on International Business Machines from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $231.44.

International Business Machines Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:IBM opened at $253.07 on Wednesday. International Business Machines Co. has a 1-year low of $162.62 and a 1-year high of $265.72. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $239.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $225.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $234.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.48, a PEG ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.04.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 104.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Robert David Thomas sold 26,543 shares of International Business Machines stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.01, for a total transaction of $6,715,644.43. Following 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.