Gartner (NYSE:IT) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Gartner (NYSE:IT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised Gartner from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $525.00 to $600.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Gartner from $565.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Gartner from $470.00 to $460.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Gartner from $529.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Gartner from $564.00 to $555.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $550.75.

Gartner Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Gartner stock opened at $546.38 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $42.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.29, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.34. Gartner has a 1 year low of $411.15 and a 1 year high of $584.01. The company’s fifty day moving average is $508.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $505.61.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information technology services provider reported $5.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $2.23. Gartner had a return on equity of 118.27% and a net margin of 17.33%. The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.04 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Gartner will post 11.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director James C. Smith sold 17,533 shares of Gartner stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $547.09, for a total transaction of $9,592,128.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 532,294 shares in the company, valued at $291,212,724.46. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claire Herkes sold 411 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.24, for a total value of $214,229.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $778,732.56. This trade represents a 21.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,583 shares of company stock worth $13,884,374 over the last 90 days. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gartner

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fisher Funds Management LTD purchased a new position in shares of Gartner during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $97,518,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Gartner by 208.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 272,267 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $131,905,000 after acquiring an additional 183,974 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Gartner during the 3rd quarter worth $70,955,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Gartner by 5.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,001,142 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,014,099,000 after purchasing an additional 103,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Gartner in the third quarter valued at $36,789,000. 91.51% of the stock is 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.