Financial Partners Group LLC Purchases 2,982 Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Financial Partners Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 47.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,324 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,982 shares during the quarter. Financial Partners Group LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $1,780,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 477,193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $78,045,000 after purchasing an additional 80,474 shares in the last quarter. Tsfg LLC raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 40.5% in the 4th quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 378 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 3,398 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $556,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 48.1% in the 3rd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 19,692 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,763,000 after buying an additional 6,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. boosted its stake in International Business Machines by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 2,736 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on International Business Machines from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. UBS Group raised their price target on International Business Machines from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on International Business Machines from $186.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, International Business Machines presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $182.53.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

Shares of IBM traded up $2.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $172.95. 4,193,459 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,570,876. International Business Machines Co. has a 12-month low of $131.55 and a 12-month high of $199.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $158.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $169.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.57.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.53 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 40.21%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were given a $1.67 dividend. This is an increase from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.66. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is currently 75.65%.

International Business Machines 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.