International Business Machines Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:IBM)

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders purchased 66,764 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 107% compared to the typical daily volume of 32,299 call options.

International Business Machines Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of IBM stock opened at $252.31 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $229.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $216.45. International Business Machines has a 12-month low of $162.62 and a 12-month high of $265.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. The firm has a market cap of $233.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.76.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.15. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 9.60%. Equities analysts anticipate that International Business Machines will post 10.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 104.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On International Business Machines

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 47.9% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 173,932 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,235,000 after purchasing an additional 56,353 shares during the period. Saturna Capital Corp raised its position in International Business Machines by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 2,324 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $511,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. PFG Advisors lifted its holdings in International Business Machines by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 8,207 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,804,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its position in shares of International Business Machines by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 83,817 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $18,426,000 after buying an additional 1,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natural Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of International Business Machines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,012,000. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on IBM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on International Business Machines from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. 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, January 30th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $205.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $225.53.

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.