International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Price Target Increased to $217.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) had its price target hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $182.00 to $217.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on IBM. Bernstein Bank lifted their price target on International Business Machines from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. 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. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on International Business Machines from $209.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $203.06.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

IBM stock opened at $232.20 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.30, a PEG ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $212.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $189.14. International Business Machines has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $237.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.12.

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

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is 75.65%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Business Machines

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IBM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 6.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,152,714 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $16,833,642,000 after buying an additional 5,546,855 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in International Business Machines by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,487,827 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,467,974,000 after buying an additional 330,694 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in International Business Machines by 6.4% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,366,715 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,274,074,000 after acquiring an additional 444,698 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in International Business Machines by 6.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,796,206 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $829,431,000 after purchasing an additional 304,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 151.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,515,666 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $671,352,000 after purchasing an additional 2,118,165 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

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.