Hills Bank & Trust Co Sells 2,751 Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Hills Bank & Trust Co reduced its stake in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 18.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,326 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,751 shares during the quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $2,710,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in International Business Machines in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in International Business Machines in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Avondale Wealth Management raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 56.0% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 156 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 134.3% in the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 157 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in International Business Machines in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on IBM. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on International Business Machines from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, International Business Machines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $231.44.

International Business Machines Price Performance

IBM stock opened at $248.15 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $230.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.71, a PEG ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.04. International Business Machines Co. has a 52-week low of $162.62 and a 52-week high of $266.45. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $244.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $228.05.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.15. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 9.60%. As a group, equities analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.78 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 104.21%.

Insider Transactions at International Business Machines

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Robert David Thomas sold 26,543 shares of International Business Machines stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.01, for a total value of $6,715,644.43. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,387,221.07. The trade was a 37.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.