International Business Machines Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:IBM)

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 145,283 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 210% compared to the average volume of 46,814 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on IBM. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Evercore raised shares of International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on International Business Machines from $165.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on International Business Machines from $186.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, International Business Machines has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $181.29.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IBM. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in International Business Machines by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 32,469 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,200,000 after buying an additional 2,727 shares during the period. Great Diamond Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 4.3% in the first quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $396,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Neumann Capital Management LLC bought a new position in International Business Machines during the first quarter worth about $246,000. Focused Wealth Management Inc raised its stake in International Business Machines by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc now owns 11,305 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,159,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in International Business Machines by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 200,872 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,359,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

Shares of IBM stock traded up $1.52 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $169.90. 3,473,128 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,920,962. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $185.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $171.88. International Business Machines has a twelve month low of $120.55 and a twelve month high of $199.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $156.07 billion, a PE ratio of 19.18, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.53 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 40.21%. The company’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that International Business Machines will post 9.92 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. This is a positive change from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.66. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.20%.

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.