International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Shares Sold by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 230,494 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 26,758 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $30,842,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P increased its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 97.6% in the 1st quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P now owns 257,335 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,459,000 after purchasing an additional 127,093 shares during the period. Roundview Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the first quarter worth approximately $203,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 35.7% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 177,599 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $23,157,000 after purchasing an additional 46,756 shares in the last quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 1.9% in the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 95,662 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,438,000 after purchasing an additional 1,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 1.5% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 382,232 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $49,698,000 after purchasing an additional 5,506 shares in the last quarter. 56.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $188.00 to $179.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 13th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Monday, November 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on International Business Machines from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 26th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $149.09.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

IBM stock traded up $0.89 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $153.78. 1,175,934 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,478,474. International Business Machines Co. has a twelve month low of $120.55 and a twelve month high of $153.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $144.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.76.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 25th. The technology company reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.73 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 38.51%. International Business Machines’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.45 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 10th will be paid a $1.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 9th. This represents a $6.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.32%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 88.06%.

International Business Machines Company Profile

International Business Machines Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated solutions and services worldwide. The company operates through four business segments: Software, Consulting, Infrastructure, and Financing. The Software segment offers hybrid cloud platform and software solutions; software for business automation, AIOps and management, integration, and application servers; data and artificial intelligence solutions; and security software and services for threat, data, and identity.