Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Acquires 645 Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its holdings in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,936 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 645 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $5,350,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in International Business Machines in the 4th quarter worth about $1,019,009,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in International Business Machines by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,152,714 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,833,642,000 after acquiring an additional 5,546,855 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of International Business Machines by 151.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,515,666 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $671,352,000 after acquiring an additional 2,118,165 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $172,887,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 79.4% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 922,496 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $176,160,000 after purchasing an additional 408,230 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on IBM. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on International Business Machines from $200.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 19th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of International Business Machines to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on International Business Machines in a report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $185.93.

International Business Machines Stock Up 0.3 %

International Business Machines stock traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $203.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 240,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,205,723. International Business Machines Co. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $205.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.94, a PEG ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $188.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $182.42.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $2.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $15.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.62 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 40.59%. International Business Machines’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.18 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.09 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.65%.

International Business Machines Company 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.