Macquarie Group Ltd. Boosts Holdings in International Business Machines Corporation $IBM

Macquarie Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) by 17.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 149,432 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 22,105 shares during the period. Macquarie Group Ltd.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $44,263,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in IBM. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,446,429,000. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 22,021,912 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,523,720,000 after buying an additional 4,976,756 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 97,216,131 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,796,390,000 after buying an additional 1,439,824 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 39.6% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,052,880 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $861,401,000 after buying an additional 865,253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valpey Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 27,670.9% in the fourth quarter. Valpey Financial Services LLC now owns 867,007 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $256,816,000 after buying an additional 863,885 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Stock Down 1.1%

IBM stock opened at $271.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.76. International Business Machines Corporation has a 1-year low of $212.34 and a 1-year high of $332.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $250.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $270.34. The firm has a market cap of $255.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.03, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.67.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.10. International Business Machines had a net margin of 15.61% and a return on equity of 37.23%. The firm had revenue of $15.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that International Business Machines Corporation will post 12.38 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $1.69 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This is a positive change from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.68. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is presently 59.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on IBM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $317.00 to $283.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $290.00 to $270.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $370.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $304.17.

About International Business Machines

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is a global technology and consulting company headquartered in Armonk, New York. Founded in 1911 as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR) and renamed IBM in 1924, the company has evolved from early electromechanical machines to a diversified technology provider serving enterprises and governments worldwide. IBM is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol IBM.

IBM’s principal businesses encompass cloud computing and software, infrastructure and systems, consulting and technology services, and research and development.