Morgan Stanley Lowers International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Price Target to $179.00

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) had its price objective reduced by Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $179.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 6.85% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on IBM. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on International Business Machines from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Evercore upgraded International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $200.00 in a report on Friday, January 19th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on International Business Machines from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on International Business Machines from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $184.08.

International Business Machines Price Performance

IBM traded down $1.38 during trading on Friday, hitting $167.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,892,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,955,068. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.70. International Business Machines has a 12 month low of $120.55 and a 12 month high of $199.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $188.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.97.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.53 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.50% and a net margin of 13.18%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that International Business Machines will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in shares of International Business Machines during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of International Business Machines during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of International Business Machines during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of International Business Machines during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 971.4% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 225 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Company Profile

International Business Machines Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated solutions and services worldwide. The company operates through Software, Consulting, Infrastructure, and Financing segments. The Software segment offers a hybrid cloud and AI platforms that allows clients to realize their digital and AI transformations across the applications, data, and environments in which they operate.