International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Upgraded to Buy at Erste Group Bank

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) was upgraded by stock analysts at Erste Group Bank from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Finviz reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised International Business Machines from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on International Business Machines from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $291.08.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:IBM traded up $2.71 on Friday, hitting $310.70. 152,607 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,832,307. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $296.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $276.09. International Business Machines has a one year low of $214.50 and a one year high of $324.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $290.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.05, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.69.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The technology company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.20. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 37.76% and a net margin of 12.09%.The firm had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that International Business Machines will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 21,011 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,619,000 after buying an additional 2,323 shares during the last quarter. Strategies Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in International Business Machines during the first quarter worth about $398,000. WBH Advisory Inc. boosted its position in International Business Machines by 23.8% during the first quarter. WBH Advisory Inc. now owns 3,740 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $930,000 after purchasing an additional 720 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC grew its stake in International Business Machines by 190.6% in the first quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 4,934 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 3,236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wambolt & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of International Business Machines by 122.1% during the 1st quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 2,023 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $506,000 after purchasing an additional 1,112 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% 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.