International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Shares Up 3.7% on Analyst Upgrade

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM)’s share price shot up 3.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after UBS Group upgraded the stock from a sell rating to a neutral rating. UBS Group now has a $236.00 price target on the stock. International Business Machines traded as high as $239.55 and last traded at $237.7540. 8,421,281 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 40% from the average session volume of 6,014,821 shares. The stock had previously closed at $229.32.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on IBM. Morgan Stanley set a $304.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore upped their price objective on International Business Machines from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on International Business Machines from $312.00 to $317.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, International Business Machines presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $320.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David N. Farr acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $304.00 per share, with a total value of $304,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 9,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,814,432. The trade was a 12.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael Miebach bought 434 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $233.33 per share, for a total transaction of $101,265.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,265.22. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have purchased a total of 1,484 shares of company stock worth $417,157 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

International Business Machines News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting International Business Machines this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS upgraded IBM from “Sell” to “Neutral,” helping spark buyer interest and supporting a short-term rebound. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: IBM won a Department of War contract (ceiling ~$112M) to modernize electronic shelf labels, a concrete services win that supports revenue visibility in its consulting/systems business. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Company directors made small open-market purchases (including Michael Miebach and Michelle Howard), a signal of insider confidence that can bolster investor sentiment after volatility. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Several analyst notes and deep-dive pieces argue the recent selloff was overdone given strong Q4 results, record free cash flow and strategic AI/cloud assets — supporting a recovery narrative. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley trimmed its price target to $247 and set an “equal weight” rating, which moderates expectations and keeps upside capped near current levels. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: IBM published its 2026 X‑Force Threat Intelligence Index (ransomware surge and AI-accelerated attacks), which underlines both growing cybersecurity demand (opportunity) and rising threat landscape (risk). Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: The principal near-term downside remains AI-startup disruption fears after Anthropic’s Claude Code claim (automation of COBOL modernization) triggered a sharp selloff; the market is still weighing how quickly enterprise modernization demand could change. Read More.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On International Business Machines

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of International Business Machines during the fourth quarter worth about $2,446,429,000. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in International Business Machines by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 22,021,912 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,523,720,000 after purchasing an additional 4,976,756 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in International Business Machines by 83.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,617,117 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,663,847,000 after purchasing an additional 2,553,552 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,051,475 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,019,274,000 after buying an additional 1,913,708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 27,928.2% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,903,116 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $561,001,000 after buying an additional 1,896,326 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $288.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $283.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $227.05 billion, a PE ratio of 21.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

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 the consensus estimate of $4.33 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $19.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 38.15% and a net margin of 15.69%.International Business Machines’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.92 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that International Business Machines Corporation will post 10.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.68 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $6.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 60.27%.

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.