International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on IBM. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on International Business Machines from $256.00 to $252.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on International Business Machines from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $293.38.

International Business Machines Stock Down 1.6%

NYSE:IBM opened at $291.35 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. International Business Machines has a 52 week low of $214.50 and a 52 week high of $324.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $304.54 and a 200-day moving average of $281.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $272.33 billion, a PE ratio of 34.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.69.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its 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. The business had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.10 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 12.09% and a return on equity of 37.76%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. Analysts predict that International Business Machines will post 10.78 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Business Machines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake in International Business Machines by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 1,727 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 58.3% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 34,798 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $9,819,000 after buying an additional 12,809 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 16.1% in the third quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 1,400 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Farmers National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 2.6% in the third quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 26,114 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,368,000 after buying an additional 664 shares during the period. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the third quarter worth $1,410,000. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

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.