International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Trading 12.9% Higher – Still a Buy?

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) traded up 12.9% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $301.00 and last traded at $298.2610. 28,276,708 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 326% from the average session volume of 6,637,965 shares. The stock had previously closed at $264.22.

International Business Machines News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: IBM unveiled a more than $10 billion quantum computing investment plan, reinforcing its leadership in an emerging high-growth market. IBM to invest $10 billion for large-scale quantum computer by 2029
• Positive Sentiment: IBM and Red Hat launched Project Lightwell, a $5 billion push to secure open-source software with AI tools and 20,000 engineers, which could strengthen its enterprise security franchise. IBM and Red Hat Commit $5 Billion to Redefine the Future of Open Source in the AI Era
• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush reiterated an Outperform rating and raised its target to $320, signaling continued analyst confidence in IBM’s upside. IBM Is Chasing A ‘$1 Trillion Value Creation Engine’ — And It’s Spending $15 Billion To Get There

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of International Business Machines from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $370.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $380.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Friday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $285.00 target price on the stock. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $295.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 24th. 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $294.41.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $240.16 and its 200 day moving average is $270.98. The stock has a market cap of $280.33 billion, a PE ratio of 26.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.80.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.10. International Business Machines had a net margin of 15.61% and a return on equity of 37.23%. The firm had revenue of $15.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.60 EPS. International Business Machines’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Corporation will post 12.4 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th will be given a $1.69 dividend. This is a positive change from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.68. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is currently 59.77%.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in International Business Machines in the 4th quarter valued at $2,446,429,000. Capital World Investors increased its stake 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 buying an additional 4,976,756 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in International Business Machines by 83.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,617,117 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,663,847,000 after buying an additional 2,553,552 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in International Business Machines by 359.6% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,896,675 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $561,814,000 after buying an additional 1,484,026 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in International Business Machines by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 97,216,131 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,796,390,000 after buying an additional 1,439,824 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.