Eight of 147: Flossbach von Storch Is 54.4% of the Superinvestors' IBM Stake — and Quintupled It in Q2. No Officer Has Ever Bought a Share.

GetCoattail Research — The Filing Tape #134. IBM sits on Zacks.com's most-searched list ahead of a third-quarter earnings report scheduled for October 21, and the filings show a register remade by a single holder: 8 of the 147 superinvestors held the stock at June 30, 2026, totalling 383,093 shares — and one holder, Flossbach von Storch, is 208,507 of them, 54.4% of the tracked stake, after raising its position 425.9% in the quarter. The verified cohort's entire increase is that one holder's; the other continuing holders cut 13.3% between them. No officer has ever bought a share in the parsed insider record.

The Hype

IBM's attention this month is search-driven, ahead of a scheduled catalyst. The stock has recently been on Zacks.com's list of the most searched stocks, in a Zacks trending-stock note dated October 12, 2026. Zacks A separate Zacks preview dated October 14, 2026 places the third-quarter report after the closing bell on October 21. Zacks Our price file shows a stock that ran into June and has been falling since: IBM rose 16.0% in the second quarter, from $242.39 on March 31 to $281.21 on June 30, after printing a 252-session high of $329.23 on June 2 — and then slid to $222.64 by October 2, down 32.4% from that high and down 24.8% year to date. A most-searched listing, an earnings date just ahead, and a price a third below its June high: the filings answer who held this name at the top of that arc, and in what size.

The Tape

For IBM — the one hundred and thirty-fourth Filing Tape audit — the tape shows a register whose growth is one holder's doing, an insider record with no officer purchase at any point, a House-only Congress register, a three-filing passive 5% register topped at 10.03%, and a borrow that set its series peak on the June 30 settlement itself and has since fallen by a third.

Lens 1 — the superinvestors: eight holders, and the quarter belongs to one of them. We track 149 managers whose 13F portfolios we collect from SEC EDGAR — 147 are in the collection (144 at a June 30 period-end, 3 early filers at September 30, none holding this name at September 30, so there is no period split) — and the June 30, 2026 register for the common stock (CUSIP 459200101) is 8 distinct managers holding 383,093 shares worth $107,729,674, long only, with no option rows: 2 are labelled INCREASED, 3 UNCHANGED, 2 DECREASED and 1 is NEW, with two exits during the quarter. Flossbach von Storch is the register's centre: 208,507 shares worth $58,634,335 — 54.4% of the tracked stake — at a 0.27% portfolio weight, labelled INCREASED +425.9% (filed August 10, 2026). The next holders are Atalanta Sosnoff Capital (50,544 shares, 13.2% of the cohort, DECREASED -32.4%), Dodge & Cox Funds (45,995 shares, DECREASED -1.3%), Arnold Van Den Berg - Century Management (39,723 shares, at a 2.36% weight, INCREASED +7.5%), GQG Partners (30,749 shares, the one NEW holder), Mairs & Power Funds (3,647 shares, UNCHANGED), Eagle Capital Management (2,700 shares, UNCHANGED) and Kahn Brothers Group (1,228 shares, UNCHANGED). The quarter's change verifies row by row for all seven continuing holders under two register methods that agree exactly (methodology): those seven held 205,546 shares at March 31 and 352,344 at June 30 (+71.4%) — and the increase is one holder's. Flossbach alone went from 39,645 to 208,507 shares (+168,862 shares), more than the cohort's entire verified increase of 146,798 shares; the other six continuing holders combined went from 165,901 to 143,837 shares, a cut of 13.3%. Two June-period holders exited during the quarter (Saturna Capital, 1,632 shares at March 31; DJE Kapital, 21,323 shares), and the full register reconciles with no residual once one early filer is accounted for: September-period filer David Katz - Matrix Asset Advisors held 755 shares at June 30 — a register row matching its later exit record exactly — and none at September 30 (methodology). All eight June rows imply $281.21, the June 30 close, exactly. 13F figures are as of June 30, 2026, published up to 45 days later.

Lens 2 — institutions: 193 more filers, and 22.58% more shares. At June 30, 2026, 3,644 institutions reported positions, up 193 from 3,451 at March 31 (+5.59%); 3,624 are long. Reported shares rose 22.58% to 605,826,692 (+111,603,482 shares), and reported value rose 47.06% to $177,101,897,282, labelled "reported" because the aggregate includes option rows (methodology), in a quarter when the price rose 16.0%. Flow counts agree (2,106 entered, 1,913 exited, net +193), and the by-CUSIP row matches the by-ticker row on every field.

Lens 3 — insiders: four purchases in the full record, none of them by an officer, against two officer sales. The parsed Form 4 record holds 174 filings through October 2, 2026. Purchases total 4 transactions, 2,684 shares for $715,954.99, by 3 buyers — and the officer-purchase count is 0 in every window, including the full record. The last year holds 3 of those purchases (1,484 shares for $417,154.99); the last 90 days hold none. Sales run the other way in size: 2 sales in the full record, 51,543 shares for $12,473,726.62, both officer sales by a single seller — one inside the last 90 days and the last year alike (25,000 shares for $5,758,087.50). The sale implies $230.32 per share in the 90-day and one-year windows and $242.01 across the full record; purchases imply $281.10 in the one-year window and $266.75 across the full record — every cited figure sits inside its window's close range on our price file (methodology). The site's insider aggregate agrees with the full parse on the 90-day window in every field.

Lens 4 — Congress: a House register only. The combined record and the House aggregate (both as of October 3, 2026) carry the same picture: 3 members, from both parties, with 4 purchases and 7 sales, the latest purchase dated August 18, 2026. The Senate aggregate (as of October 1, 2026) carries no row for this name. The aggregates record counts and dates, not amounts.

Lens 5 — the 5% register: 3 filings, every one of them passive, maximum 10.03%. Our full parse holds 3 SC 13D/G filings matching the site aggregate — 0 SC 13D family and 3 SC 13G family (1 SC 13G, 2 SC 13G/A); 2 amendments, 2 reporter names across 3 reporter rows. The maximum is 10.03%: The Vanguard Group printed 92,822,090 shares at 10.03% as of January 31, 2025 (filed February 7, 2025, SC 13G/A). The latest filing is Vanguard Capital Management at 70,227,012 shares and 7.48% as of March 31, 2026 (filed April 30, 2026, SC 13G). The remaining print is The Vanguard Group at 0 shares and 0.0% as of March 13, 2026 (filed March 27, 2026, SC 13G/A).

Lens 6 — short interest: the series peak is the June 30 settlement itself, and the borrow has since fallen by a third. The latest FINRA settlement, September 15, 2026, records 22,444,940 shares sold short — 2.38% of the 942,134,390 shares outstanding — at 4.56 days to cover, up 1.95% from the prior settlement. The series peak across all 137 settlements is 34,277,714 shares on June 30, 2026 — the quarter-end settlement itself — and the latest reading sits 34.5% below it, while still standing 53.5% above the year-ago settlement (14,626,762 on September 15, 2025). The recent path runs 34,277,714 (June 30), 33,088,057 (July 15), 22,269,760 (July 31), 22,050,277 (August 14), 22,016,017 (August 31) and 22,444,940 (September 15) — four falls and one rise, with the step down concentrated in the second half of July. The series minimum is 14,280,231 shares (August 29, 2025). No settlement steps 2x or more, or halves or worse, against its predecessor (methodology).

The Gap

The narrative arriving this month is a routine one: a most-searched name with an earnings date on October 21 and a price 32.4% below its June high. The June tape describes a register rebuilt at the top of that arc — by one holder. The tracked cohort's headline — eight holders, verified +71.4% — is Flossbach von Storch: 54.4% of the tracked stake, a +168,862-share increase exceeding the cohort's entire verified increase, while the other six continuing holders cut 13.3% and two holders exited. The broad market genuinely broadened — 193 more filers and 22.58% more shares — but that is the full 13F universe, not the tracked cohort. Inside the company, buying is small and never comes from an officer: 4 purchases totalling 2,684 shares in the full record, none in the last 90 days, against a single officer seller's 25,000-share sale in that window. Congress trades this name only in the House, in both directions. The 5% register holds three passive Vanguard prints, its maximum 10.03%. And the borrow peaked on the quarter-end settlement itself and has fallen by a third since — still 53.5% above where it stood a year ago. One plausible reading is that the June filings caught the register at its most committed: one tracked holder quintupled into the quarter-end, the borrow printed its series high on the same date, and everything filed since — the price, the borrow, the insider window — has moved the other way.

What Would Change the Picture

Nothing above is a recommendation. These filings would change it:

• 1. The 2026Q3 13F season (filing window closing mid-November 2026). Flossbach von Storch's verified baseline is 208,507 shares — 54.4% of the tracked total. Whether that position is held, added to or cut decides this lens by itself; whether GQG Partners' new 30,749-share position survives its first quarter would also change the register's shape.
• 2. A first officer purchase, or any purchase in the current window. The record holds 4 purchases in 174 filings — 2,684 shares, none by an officer — and the last 90 days hold no purchase against one officer sale of 25,000 shares. A first recorded officer purchase would change this lens outright.
• 3. A first Senate row. All recorded congressional trading in this name is in the House: 3 members, 4 purchases and 7 sales. A transaction from any senator would change this lens.
• 4. A first SC 13D filing, or a new 5% print above 10.03%. All three filings in this register are 13G-family filings. A first activist-form filing, or any print above The Vanguard Group's 10.03% maximum, would change this lens.
• 5. Short interest back above the June 30 peak, or a further unwind. The borrow stands at 22,444,940 shares, 34.5% below the June 30, 2026 peak of 34,277,714 — itself the series high. A reading above 34,277,714 would set a new series high; a reading below 22,016,017, the August 31, 2026 print, would extend the unwind to a new recent low.

Related reading: Eight of 147: One Holder Is 99.1% of the Superinvestors' Altria Stake. Its Insiders Have Bought Once. — Filing Tape #133; Eighteen of 147: Berkshire Hathaway Is 90.9% of the Superinvestors' Chevron Stake — and It Did Not Move. Its Insiders Have Never Bought. — Filing Tape #132. IBM's own page: IBM (IBM) on GetCoattail.

Methodology and data notes

• As-of & limits: The lenses rest on different clocks, none live: 13F is a June 30, 2026 snapshot published up to 45 days later; Form 4 runs through October 2, 2026; Congress aggregates run through October 3, 2026 (Senate through October 1, 2026); 13D/G through April 30, 2026; short interest through September 15, 2026; the price file ends October 2, 2026. Five limits are specific to this audit. First, the roster expanded before the recent audits — from 85 managers (83 filing) to 149 (147 filing) — so "of 147" counts are not comparable to earlier pieces' "of 83" figures. Second, this name carries no period split in its headline count — all eight tracked holders sit on a June 30, 2026 period-end and none of the three September 30, 2026 early filers holds this name at September 30 — but one early filer touches the register's reconciliation: David Katz - Matrix Asset Advisors held 755 shares at June 30 (register accession 0001172661-26-002637, $212,450) and none at September 30, per its exit record, which matches that register row exactly. Its filing-agent prefix is shared with several June-period managers, so the row is attributed by full-register residual — June 30 register total 383,848 shares, less the June cohort's 383,093, leaves exactly its 755 — not by prefix. With it, both registers reconcile with no residual: March 31, 228,501 shares (the verified continuing holders' 205,546, plus the two in-quarter exits' 22,955); June 30, 383,848 (the June cohort's 383,093, plus Matrix's 755). Third, the insider record's purchases are small by count and size — 4 purchases, 2,684 shares in total — so this audit cites the full record rather than rates, and the "no officer purchase" statement is a full-record statement: the officer-purchase count is 0 in the 90-day, one-year and full windows alike. Fourth, the short-interest series peak cited here is the June 30, 2026 settlement itself; the series contains no step of 2x or more and no halving or worse (largest step 1.195x at the May 15, 2026 settlement, smallest 0.673x at July 31, 2026), carries two revision flags (June 15, 2021 and May 31, 2023) and no split flags, and is published as collected. Fifth, our price file begins June 1, 2021 and carries one split entry, a 1.046 factor dated November 4, 2021 (a 2021 spinoff adjustment), which does not touch any 2026 comparison in this audit; every price statement here is mechanical, a date and a close from that file. The Zacks most-searched listing and the October 21 earnings date (accessed October 20, 2026) postdate the 13F snapshot and the short-interest series; none of Zacks' figures are cited here beyond the listing itself and the earnings date, reported as outlet content in The Hype; every price figure here is from our own price file.
• Market context sources: the Zacks trending-stock note on IBM dated October 12, 2026 ("has recently been on Zacks.com's list of the most searched stocks") and the Zacks earnings preview dated October 14, 2026, which places the third-quarter report after the closing bell on October 21. Figures we could not confirm were left out; the external items above are reported speech from that outlet, not GetCoattail measurements.
• IBM is in the GetCoattail stock-page universe: IBM (IBM) stock page. Series data: ibm_lens_data.csv · ibm_short_interest_series.csv. Earlier audits: Altria · Chevron.

Past patterns are not a promise of future results. For education only — not investment advice.

This article describes public filings as of the dates stated. It is not investment advice and makes no recommendation. Filings lag reality: 13F positions are as of June 30, 2026, and later trading is not yet public.

Revision history: v1.0 — October 20, 2026: first publication.