Aspire Capital Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Aspire Capital Advisors LLC decreased its position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,040 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 47 shares during the period. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $229,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in IBM. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 20,324.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,715,636 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $600,373,000 after acquiring an additional 2,702,340 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in International Business Machines in the 3rd quarter valued at about $573,306,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 55,671,883 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,307,940,000 after buying an additional 1,200,803 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 90.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,687,253 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $370,909,000 after buying an additional 800,930 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 587.1% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 628,213 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $134,262,000 after purchasing an additional 536,785 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on IBM. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $205.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $208.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective on International Business Machines from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $220.73.

International Business Machines Stock Down 0.3 %

International Business Machines stock opened at $223.52 on Tuesday. International Business Machines Co. has a one year low of $162.62 and a one year high of $239.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $206.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $224.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $212.82. 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 25,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,463,928. This trade represents a 12.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.