Big Blue due for another stock split?
Last I heard, the # of authorized shares for IBM is 1,875 million (anyone know of a newer number?). Stockmaster currently has IBM's total shares outstanding at about 933,063,000. Multiply this by 2, and you get 1,866,126,000, which is less than the authorized number. I bet this doesn't factor in all the $billions in share buybacks either.
Here's support for my hypothesis:
1. If the numbers above are correct, a stock split is with the number of shares currently authorized.
2. Last split happened when IBM share price passed $150 / share. We're over $160 these days.
3. The last split was authorized by IBM's board in January, 1997. So, maybe it's a "beginning of the year" thing.
Anyone else think we're due for a split?
My opinions only,
John |
