Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Increases Stake in International Business Machines Corporation $IBM

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 73,413 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,043 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $21,746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its stake in International Business Machines by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 33,419 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $9,899,000 after purchasing an additional 1,656 shares during the period. Burton Enright Welch purchased a new position in shares of International Business Machines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $392,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 187,553 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $55,555,000 after buying an additional 5,659 shares during the period. Searle & CO. increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Searle & CO. now owns 29,848 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,841,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 11,216 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,322,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on IBM. DZ Bank raised International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $295.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on International Business Machines from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Barclays began coverage on International Business Machines in a research note on Monday, June 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, International Business Machines presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $304.17.

International Business Machines Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:IBM opened at $271.77 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $255.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.03, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.76. International Business Machines Corporation has a 1 year low of $212.34 and a 1 year high of $332.46. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $250.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $270.34.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $15.60 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 37.23% and a net margin of 15.61%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. Sell-side 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $1.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This is an increase from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.68. This represents a $6.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.77%.

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.