Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Buys 20,412 Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 17.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 134,248 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,412 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $23,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its position in International Business Machines by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 3,892 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $637,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Aveo Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in International Business Machines by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,101 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $507,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in International Business Machines by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,394 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $386,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC lifted its position in International Business Machines by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 3,909 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $639,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in International Business Machines by 32.7% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 45,653 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,467,000 after acquiring an additional 11,247 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Stock Up 1.8 %

IBM opened at $217.70 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $196.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.65, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.70. International Business Machines Co. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $218.84.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $2.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $15.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.62 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 40.59%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.18 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.1 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IBM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of International Business Machines to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $188.60.

International Business Machines Company 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.