Ledyard National Bank Grows Stock Holdings in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Ledyard National Bank raised its position in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,644 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,241 shares during the quarter. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $1,741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,076,195 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,515,290,000 after buying an additional 365,388 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted 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 valued at $2,280,968,000 after buying an additional 1,919,490 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings 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 valued at $1,398,886,000 after acquiring an additional 404,948 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 10.2% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,691,369 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,219,399,000 after acquiring an additional 807,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings 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 valued at $890,322,000 after acquiring an additional 871,247 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on IBM shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $186.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $165.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Societe Generale restated a “sell” rating and set a $143.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Two equities 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $184.08.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE IBM traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $167.51. 5,260,090 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,011,214. The firm has a market cap of $153.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.97, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.70. International Business Machines Co. has a twelve month low of $120.55 and a twelve month high of $199.18. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $187.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.53 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 40.21%. The business’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $1.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $6.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.96%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 75.20%.

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.