Company Update (NYSE:IBM): Call buyers are playing for gains in IBM

[optionMONSTER] – Traders are positioning for IBM to rally in the next five months. optionMONSTER’s Heat Seeker market scanner shows that more than 5,000 July 145 calls were purchased for $2.33 to $2.61 yesterday. Volume … Read more on this. International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) , valued at $127.48B, began trading this morning at $133.29. Today, shares have traded between $130.88 and $133.62 per share with its 52-week range being $116.90 to $176.30. IBM (IBM) shares are currently priced at 9.84x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry ’s 6.87x earnings multiple for the same period. The company pays shareholders $5.20 per share annually in dividends, yielding 3.91%. In a review of the consensus earnings estimate this quarter, 19 sell-side analysts are looking at $2.08 per share, which would be $0.83 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $0.87 sequential decrease. Furthermore, our analysis shows the full-year EPS estimate to be $13.50, which would be a $1.42 setback when compared to the last year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $18.24 Billion. If realized, that would be a 6.89% decrease over the year-ago quarter. Recently, Morgan Stanley upgraded IBM from Equal-Weight to Overweight (Feb 18, 2016). Previously, JMP Securities Initiated IBM at to Mkt Outperform. Investors should keep in mind is that the average price target is $132.40, which is 0.67% below where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:IBM) Similar Articles: Company Update (NYSE:IBM): IBM Erases Five Years of Gains Buoyed by Share Buybacks: Chart Company Update (NYSE:IBM): Is IBM Bottoming? Company Update: International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) – IBM to Be Laggard Among DJIA Companies in 2015, Again