Verus Financial Partners Inc. Raises Stock Position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Verus Financial Partners Inc. grew its position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 26.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,265 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. Verus Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in International Business Machines by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 19,699 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,396,000 after buying an additional 4,019 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,439 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,855,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the period. Everett Harris & Co. CA increased its holdings in International Business Machines by 93.1% in the 4th quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 7,116 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 3,431 shares during the last quarter. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in International Business Machines by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,786 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $393,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of International Business Machines during the fourth quarter worth $88,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IBM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on International Business Machines from $205.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com lowered International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on International Business Machines from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $225.53.

Insider Transactions at International Business Machines

In other news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 25,390 shares in the company, valued at $5,463,928. This represents a 12.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Stock Down 1.1 %

IBM opened at $255.48 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $236.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 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. International Business Machines Co. has a one year low of $162.62 and a one year high of $261.80. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $226.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $214.36.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.15. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.37% and a net margin of 9.60%. Analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.54 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 104.21%.

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.