Appleton Partners Inc. MA boosted its stake in International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,537 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 472 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in International Business Machines Corp. were worth $624,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of IBM. CT Financial Advisors raised its stake in International Business Machines Corp. by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. CT Financial Advisors now owns 1,899 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $261,340 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Company raised its stake in International Business Machines Corp. by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Central Bank & Trust Company now owns 2,392 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in International Business Machines Corp. by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 2,682 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $369,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Simplex Trading raised its stake in International Business Machines Corp. by 34.8% in the fourth quarter. Simplex Trading now owns 2,617 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantitative Systematic Strategies purchased a new stake in International Business Machines Corp. during the fourth quarter valued at about $403,000.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) opened at 122.22 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $118.06 billion and a PE ratio of 9.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $132.59 and a 200 day moving average of $144.18. International Business Machines Corp. has a 12 month low of $118.00 and a 12 month high of $176.30.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 19th. The technology company reported $4.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.81 by $0.03. The business earned $22.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Corp. will post $13.50 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 8th.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on IBM shares. Vetr raised shares of International Business Machines Corp. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $157.67 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Drexel Hamilton assumed coverage on shares of International Business Machines Corp. in a research note on Friday, October 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $176.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of International Business Machines Corp. from $180.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. S&P Equity Research decreased their price target on shares of International Business Machines Corp. from $178.00 to $168.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of International Business Machines Corp. in a research note on Friday, October 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $148.00 price target on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $142.94.

In related news, EVP Steven A. Mills sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.29, for a total transaction of $1,382,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 145,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,109,302.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Erich Clementi sold 16,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.29, for a total transaction of $2,251,556.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,772,983.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

International Business Machines Corporation is a technology company. The Company operates in five business segments: Global Technology Services (NYSE:IBM), which includes Strategic Outsourcing, Integrated Technology Services, Cloud and Technology Support Services, and also provides information technology (IT) infrastructure and business process services; Global Business Services (GBS), which offers its services across Consulting and Systems Integration, Global Process Services and Application Management Services; Software, which consists of middleware and operating systems software; Systems and Technology (STG), which provides infrastructure technologies, and Global Financing, which provides financing solutions for products or services that are critical to the end users’ business operations. Its IBM Watson Health Cloud platform collects clinical, research and social data from a range of health sources and creates a cloud-based data sharing hub.

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