First Dallas Securities Inc. Buys 6,905 Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

First Dallas Securities Inc. increased its stake in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 373.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,755 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 6,905 shares during the quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $1,672,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position 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 worth $78,045,000 after purchasing an additional 80,474 shares during the last quarter. Tsfg LLC lifted its position 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 worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 worth $556,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 48.1% during the third quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 19,692 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,763,000 after purchasing an additional 6,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 2,736 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $186.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $165.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $182.53.

International Business Machines Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of IBM traded up $2.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $172.95. 4,193,459 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,570,876. International Business Machines Co. has a 1-year low of $131.55 and a 1-year high of $199.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The company has a market capitalization of $158.87 billion, a PE ratio of 19.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50 day moving average of $169.95 and a 200 day moving average of $176.40.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.09. International Business Machines had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 40.21%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.9 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were given a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. This is a positive change from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.66. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.65%.

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.