Gartner (NYSE:IT) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

Gartner (NYSE:IT) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on IT. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Gartner from $564.00 to $555.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Gartner from $529.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Gartner from $579.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Gartner from $470.00 to $460.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Gartner from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $525.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gartner has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $552.63.

Gartner Stock Performance

Shares of Gartner stock opened at $521.95 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $510.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $507.91. Gartner has a 52 week low of $411.15 and a 52 week high of $584.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31. The firm has a market cap of $40.26 billion, a PE ratio of 32.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 1.34.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information technology services provider reported $5.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $2.23. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.69 billion. Gartner had a net margin of 20.00% and a return on equity of 136.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.04 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Gartner will post 12.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Claire Herkes sold 411 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.24, for a total value of $214,229.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,494 shares in the company, valued at $778,732.56. This trade represents a 21.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James C. Smith sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.02, for a total value of $2,620,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 509,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $266,965,657.14. This trade represents a 0.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $2,933,279 over the last ninety days. 3.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gartner

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CX Institutional raised its stake in shares of Gartner by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,197 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $607,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Gartner by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,735 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $5,440,000 after buying an additional 1,307 shares in the last quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Gartner in the 3rd quarter valued at $223,000. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Gartner by 1.4% in the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 3,311 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC boosted its stake in Gartner by 46.5% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 148 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Gartner

Gartner, Inc operates as a research and advisory company in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Research, Conferences, and Consulting. The Research segment delivers its research primarily through a subscription service that include on-demand access to published research content, data and benchmarks, and direct access to a network of research experts.