Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Purchases 3,908 Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC increased its position in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 164.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,278 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,908 shares during the quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $1,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of IBM. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the first quarter worth $26,000. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in International Business Machines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of International Business Machines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on IBM. DZ Bank lowered shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $215.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on International Business Machines from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group raised their price target on International Business Machines from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $194.35.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

NYSE:IBM opened at $227.09 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $208.61 billion, a PE ratio of 25.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.70. International Business Machines Co. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $227.67. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $203.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.17.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $2.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $15.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company posted $2.18 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.65%.

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.