Sapient Capital LLC Reduces Position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Sapient Capital LLC reduced its holdings in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 19.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,681 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 665 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $512,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 477,193 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $78,045,000 after acquiring an additional 80,474 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 372,307 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $52,235,000 after purchasing an additional 57,170 shares during the period. Herold Advisors Inc. raised its position in International Business Machines by 3.2% during the third quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 21,880 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,070,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares during the period. Tsfg LLC raised its position in International Business Machines by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 378 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Auxano Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 3,398 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $556,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $186.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Societe Generale reissued a “sell” rating and set a $143.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $184.08.

International Business Machines Price Performance

International Business Machines stock traded down $1.24 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $166.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,010,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,023,267. International Business Machines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $120.55 and a fifty-two 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $186.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.35 billion, a PE ratio of 18.82, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.70.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.09. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.21% and a net margin of 13.18%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.36 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.99 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.02%. This is a boost from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.66. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.20%.

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.