Wedbush Securities Inc. Buys 4,934 Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 58,791 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,934 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $12,924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. United Bank boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 53.3% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,628 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,244,000 after buying an additional 1,956 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 314.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 530 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 33,468 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,399,000 after buying an additional 12,527 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in International Business Machines by 5.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 227,815 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $50,365,000 after buying an additional 10,862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its position in International Business Machines by 58.8% in the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 101,656 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $22,474,000 after acquiring an additional 37,654 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IBM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on International Business Machines from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on International Business Machines from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $231.13.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

NYSE:IBM opened at $227.31 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $210.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.46, a PEG ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $251.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $232.41. International Business Machines Co. has a twelve month low of $162.62 and a twelve month high of $266.45.

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

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 104.21%.

Insider Transactions at International Business Machines

In related news, SVP Robert David Thomas sold 26,543 shares of the business’s 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 owns 45,007 shares in the company, valued at $11,387,221.07. The trade was a 37.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.