International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 4.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,094,106 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 46,951 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $241,885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of IBM. Montecito Bank & Trust boosted its stake in International Business Machines by 2.6% in the third quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 8,814 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,949,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. US Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the 3rd quarter valued at about $205,000. Baugh & Associates LLC grew its stake in International Business Machines by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. Baugh & Associates LLC now owns 1,527 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV increased its position in International Business Machines by 0.9% during the third quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 40,695 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,997,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor Resource Council purchased a new stake in International Business Machines in the third quarter valued at approximately $836,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on IBM shares. Bernstein Bank lifted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $200.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. DZ Bank lowered International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $215.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on International Business Machines from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $208.12.

International Business Machines Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of IBM opened at $213.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.01. International Business Machines Co. has a 1-year low of $145.28 and a 1-year high of $237.37. The stock has a market cap of $197.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $217.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $191.86.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.03. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.52% and a net margin of 10.22%. The company had revenue of $14.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.20 earnings per share. International Business Machines’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 97.23%.

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.