Morgan Stanley Cuts International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Price Target to $179.00

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) had its target price lowered by Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $179.00 in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on IBM. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on International Business Machines from $165.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Bank of America lifted their target price on International Business Machines from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on International Business Machines from $179.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Societe Generale reissued a sell rating and issued a $143.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Evercore raised International Business Machines from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $184.08.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

International Business Machines stock opened at $167.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $187.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.53. International Business Machines has a 52-week low of $120.55 and a 52-week high of $199.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.70.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.09. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.21% and a net margin of 13.18%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that International Business Machines will post 9.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $1.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $6.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.20%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Business Machines

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in International Business Machines by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,940 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Arden Trust Co increased its holdings in International Business Machines by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Arden Trust Co now owns 1,973 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in International Business Machines by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,007 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth increased its holdings in International Business Machines by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 964 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in International Business Machines by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,528 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,309,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

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.