Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Sells 1,997 Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. lessened its holdings in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,726 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,997 shares during the period. International Business Machines accounts for 1.4% of Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $2,358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in International Business Machines by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 55,671,883 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,307,940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200,803 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in International Business Machines by 6.0% in the 3rd 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 period. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in International Business Machines by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,726,700 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $602,819,000 after acquiring an additional 12,400 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in International Business Machines in the 3rd quarter valued at $573,306,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in International Business Machines by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,473,421 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $546,824,000 after acquiring an additional 32,732 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IBM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on International Business Machines from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on International Business Machines in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $320.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on International Business Machines from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, International Business Machines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $231.44.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

NYSE:IBM opened at $252.63 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $238.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $224.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $234.25 billion, a PE ratio of 39.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. International Business Machines Co. has a twelve month low of $162.62 and a twelve month high of $265.72.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 104.21%.

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.