IBM shares close lower on Thursday, company appoints Martin Schroeter as head of new IT infrastructure services unit

International Business Machines Corp (IBM) on Thursday appointed Martin Schroeter, previously CFO, as head of its new IT infrastructure services unit, which will soon become public.

IBM shares closed lower for the third time in the past ten trading sessions in New York on Thursday. The stock went down 0.23% ($0.30) to $128.99, after touching an intraday low at $128.31 and an intraday high at $130.43 respectively.

In 2020, IBM’s stock went down 6.09%, thus, it underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 16.26% gain.

Expected to employ 90,000 people, IBM’s new company will focus on the management and modernization of IT infrastructure across industries.

The unit, which provides technical support for 4,600 customers in 115 countries, will be listed as a separate entity with a new name by the end of this year, IBM said.

Martin Schroeter served as Chief Financial Officer from 2014 to 2017 and also was senior vice president of global markets. He parted ways with the tech giant in June 2020 and is expected to assume the new role on January 15th.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to CNN Money, the 14 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding IBM’s stock price, have a median target of $139.00, with a high estimate of $165.00 and a low estimate of $115.00. The median estimate represents a 7.76% upside compared to the closing price of $128.99 on January 7th.

The same media also reported that at least 9 out of 16 surveyed investment analysts had rated IBM’s stock as “Hold”, while 5 – as “Buy”. On the other hand, 2 analysts had recommended selling the stock.