WASHINGTON TRUST Co Increases Stock Holdings in International Business Machines Corporation $IBM

WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its holdings in International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,338 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $4,839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of International Business Machines by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 97,216,131 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,796,390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439,824 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in International Business Machines by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,605,083 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,679,105,000 after acquiring an additional 336,069 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in International Business Machines by 13.9% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,045,156 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,809,461,000 after acquiring an additional 2,077,506 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in International Business Machines during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,446,429,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in International Business Machines by 2.5% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,302,722 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,060,536,000 after acquiring an additional 176,219 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on IBM shares. HSBC raised International Business Machines from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $218.00 to $231.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on International Business Machines from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $290.00 price objective on International Business Machines in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on International Business Machines from $317.00 to $283.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, International Business Machines presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $294.41.

International Business Machines Trading Up 12.9%

NYSE:IBM opened at $298.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.80. International Business Machines Corporation has a one year low of $212.34 and a one year high of $324.90. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $240.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $270.98. The stock has a market cap of $280.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.58.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.10. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 37.23% and a net margin of 15.61%.The firm had revenue of $15.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.60 earnings per share. International Business Machines’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that International Business Machines Corporation will post 12.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a $1.69 dividend. This is a positive change from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $6.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.77%.

International Business Machines News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting International Business Machines this week:

• Positive Sentiment: IBM unveiled a more than $10 billion quantum computing investment plan, reinforcing its leadership in an emerging high-growth market. IBM to invest $10 billion for large-scale quantum computer by 2029
• Positive Sentiment: IBM and Red Hat launched Project Lightwell, a $5 billion push to secure open-source software with AI tools and 20,000 engineers, which could strengthen its enterprise security franchise. IBM and Red Hat Commit $5 Billion to Redefine the Future of Open Source in the AI Era
• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush reiterated an Outperform rating and raised its target to $320, signaling continued analyst confidence in IBM’s upside. IBM Is Chasing A ‘$1 Trillion Value Creation Engine’ — And It’s Spending $15 Billion To Get There

About International Business Machines

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is a global technology and consulting company headquartered in Armonk, New York. Founded in 1911 as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR) and renamed IBM in 1924, the company has evolved from early electromechanical machines to a diversified technology provider serving enterprises and governments worldwide. IBM is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol IBM.

IBM’s principal businesses encompass cloud computing and software, infrastructure and systems, consulting and technology services, and research and development.