Banco Santander S.A. Acquires 30,784 Shares of International Business Machines Corporation $IBM

Banco Santander S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) by 22.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 165,827 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,784 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $49,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Family CFO Inc bought a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Joseph Group Capital Management bought a new stake in International Business Machines in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. SWAN Capital LLC bought a new stake in International Business Machines in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new stake in International Business Machines in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $317.00 to $283.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $290.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of International Business Machines from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $304.17.

International Business Machines Stock Down 1.1%

IBM opened at $271.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market cap of $255.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.03, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.67. International Business Machines Corporation has a twelve month low of $212.34 and a twelve month high of $332.46. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $250.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $270.34.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.60 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 15.61% and a return on equity of 37.23%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that International Business Machines Corporation will post 12.38 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $1.69 per share. This represents a $6.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This is an increase from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.68. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.77%.

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.