Safeguard Financial LLC Buys Shares of 1,411 International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Safeguard Financial LLC bought a new stake in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,411 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $310,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in International Business Machines by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 55,671,883 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,307,940,000 after buying an additional 1,200,803 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,487,827 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,467,974,000 after acquiring an additional 330,694 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,366,715 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,274,074,000 after acquiring an additional 444,698 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,195,933 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,148,717,000 after acquiring an additional 294,276 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,726,700 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $602,819,000 after acquiring an additional 12,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of IBM opened at $217.54 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $222.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $210.16. The company has a market cap of $201.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.67, a PEG ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.74. International Business Machines Co. has a 52-week low of $162.62 and a 52-week high of $239.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.06.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $14.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.08 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.52% and a net margin of 10.22%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.20 EPS. Analysts predict that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 97.23%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of International Business Machines stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.20, for a total transaction of $774,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 25,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,463,928. The trade was a 12.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IBM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bernstein Bank raised their price objective on International Business Machines from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on International Business Machines from $209.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on International Business Machines from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on International Business Machines from $200.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on International Business Machines from $208.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $215.81.

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.