Welch & Forbes LLC Reduces Position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Welch & Forbes LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 68,361 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,174 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $11,180,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in International Business Machines by 15,439.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,653,462 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $433,974,000 after acquiring an additional 2,636,386 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 13.4% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,257,789 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,280,968,000 after buying an additional 1,919,490 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 15.9% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 6,345,842 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $890,322,000 after buying an additional 871,247 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 4.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,970,674 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,398,886,000 after buying an additional 404,948 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 162.4% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 621,682 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $87,204,000 after buying an additional 384,744 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

International Business Machines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE IBM traded down $0.24 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $168.37. The company had a trading volume of 3,154,776 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,949,592. International Business Machines Co. has a 52 week low of $120.55 and a 52 week high of $199.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $154.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s 50-day moving average is $185.11 and its 200 day moving average is $171.88.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.67 per share. This is a boost from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.66. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is currently 75.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI upgraded International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on International Business Machines from $186.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on International Business Machines from $179.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com cut International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on International Business Machines from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.