Richardson Financial Services Inc. Takes Position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,315 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 477,193 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $78,045,000 after buying an additional 80,474 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 372,307 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $52,235,000 after purchasing an additional 57,170 shares during the period. Tsfg LLC boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 378 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 3,398 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $556,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC raised its stake in International Business Machines by 48.1% in the third quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 19,692 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,763,000 after buying an additional 6,397 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IBM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on International Business Machines from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $165.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Thursday, May 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $181.29.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

International Business Machines stock traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $169.21. 2,777,717 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,225,373. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $172.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $155.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.16, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.72. International Business Machines Co. has a 1 year low of $129.18 and a 1 year high of $199.18.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.09. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.21% and a net margin of 13.18%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. International Business Machines’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were given a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This is an increase from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.66. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.95%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is currently 75.65%.

International Business Machines 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.