Advisors Capital Management LLC Has $64.06 Million Stake in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 335,448 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,113 shares during the period. International Business Machines accounts for about 1.2% of Advisors Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $64,057,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in International Business Machines by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 477,193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $78,045,000 after acquiring an additional 80,474 shares during the last quarter. Tsfg LLC increased its holdings in International Business Machines by 40.5% in the fourth quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 378 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Auxano Advisors LLC raised its position in International Business Machines by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 3,398 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $556,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $447,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. Finally, Mosley Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the 4th quarter valued at about $312,000. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $145.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $186.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on International Business Machines from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on International Business Machines from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on International Business Machines from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $182.53.

International Business Machines Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE IBM traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $178.29. 2,806,788 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,450,637. The stock has a market cap of $163.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.19, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.09. International Business Machines Co. has a 1-year low of $132.57 and a 1-year high of $199.18. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $170.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.30.

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

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This is a boost from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.66. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 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.