International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Stock Price Down 2% Following Analyst Downgrade

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) shares fell 2% during trading on Thursday after Erste Group Bank downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The company traded as low as $253.51 and last traded at $255.6530. 4,942,053 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 7% from the average session volume of 5,338,423 shares. The stock had previously closed at $260.79.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on IBM. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on International Business Machines from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 11th. Dbs Bank upgraded International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on International Business Machines from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $304.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $330.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David N. Farr acquired 1,000 shares of International Business Machines stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $304.00 per share, for a total transaction of $304,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 9,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,814,432. This represents a 12.11% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in IBM. Larch Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the 4th quarter valued at $232,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in International Business Machines by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 14,372 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,257,000 after buying an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Cambient Family Office LLC bought a new position in International Business Machines in the fourth quarter valued at about $752,000. Vancity Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in International Business Machines during the fourth quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in International Business Machines during the fourth quarter worth about $441,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Price Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $294.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $284.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $240.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.07, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.69.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $4.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.33 by $0.19. International Business Machines had a net margin of 15.69% and a return on equity of 38.15%. The business had revenue of $19.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.92 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that International Business Machines Corporation will post 10.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $1.68 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $6.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is currently 60.27%.

International Business Machines Company Profile

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.