Highland Capital Management LLC Cuts Holdings in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Highland Capital Management LLC cut its stake in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 54.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,861 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,200 shares during the quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $304,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P lifted its position in International Business Machines by 97.6% during the 1st quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P now owns 257,335 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,459,000 after acquiring an additional 127,093 shares during the period. Roundview Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the first quarter worth about $203,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in International Business Machines by 35.7% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 177,599 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $23,157,000 after buying an additional 46,756 shares during the last quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. raised its position in International Business Machines by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 95,662 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,438,000 after buying an additional 1,821 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 382,232 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $49,698,000 after acquiring an additional 5,506 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

IBM opened at $190.80 on Thursday. International Business Machines Co. has a twelve month low of $120.55 and a twelve month high of $199.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.91 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $186.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $163.98.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The technology company reported $3.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.78 by $0.09. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 39.55% and a net margin of 12.13%. The business had revenue of $17.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $1.66 per share. This represents a $6.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on IBM shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on International Business Machines from $144.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $155.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Societe Generale restated a “sell” rating and set a $143.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Friday, January 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $176.85.

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.