International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Shares Down 6.3% After Analyst Downgrade

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) traded down 6.3% on Thursday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $217.00 to $208.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. International Business Machines traded as low as $216.29 and last traded at $218.18. 4,330,480 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 3% from the average session volume of 4,192,041 shares. The stock had previously closed at $232.75.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on International Business Machines from $209.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on International Business Machines from $205.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Hsbc Global Res raised International Business Machines to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on International Business Machines from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on International Business Machines from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $208.12.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IBM. Ellenbecker Investment Group increased its position in International Business Machines by 2.3% during the third quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group now owns 2,049 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. McAdam LLC raised its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 3,570 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $789,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Castleview Partners LLC grew its stake in International Business Machines by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,522 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Armbruster Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in International Business Machines by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Armbruster Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,500 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $432,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aspect Partners LLC grew its stake in International Business Machines by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 554 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

International Business Machines Trading Down 6.7 %

The company has a market cap of $199.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $214.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $190.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $14.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.08 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.59% and a net margin of 13.52%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.20 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.1 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 75.65%.

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.