Montecito Bank & Trust Buys 745 Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Montecito Bank & Trust raised its stake in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,559 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 745 shares during the quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $2,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ellenbecker Investment Group lifted its holdings in International Business Machines by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group now owns 2,049 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 4.0% in the third quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,217 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Vertex Planning Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 3.6% in the third quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $298,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,153 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,891,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sollinda Capital Management LLC increased its position in International Business Machines by 3.7% during the third quarter. Sollinda Capital Management LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on International Business Machines from $200.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on International Business Machines from $227.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. DZ Bank cut International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $215.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Bernstein Bank upped their price objective on shares of 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $220.73.

International Business Machines Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:IBM opened at $225.63 on Friday. International Business Machines Co. has a 52-week low of $162.62 and a 52-week high of $239.35. The company has a market capitalization of $208.63 billion, a PE ratio of 32.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.06. The company has a fifty day moving average of $223.60 and a 200-day moving average of $211.90.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $14.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.20, for a total transaction of $774,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 25,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,463,928. This trade represents a 12.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About International Business Machines

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.