Gartner (NYSE:IT) Given New $557.00 Price Target at Robert W. Baird

Gartner (NYSE:IT) had its target price trimmed by Robert W. Baird from $605.00 to $557.00 in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the information technology services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on IT. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Gartner from $564.00 to $555.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com raised Gartner from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Gartner in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays raised Gartner from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $525.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Gartner from $470.00 to $460.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $546.63.

Gartner Price Performance

IT opened at $430.03 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.83, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.29. Gartner has a 1-year low of $409.50 and a 1-year high of $584.01. The company has a 50-day moving average of $502.37 and a 200-day moving average of $507.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information technology services provider reported $5.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $2.23. Gartner had a net margin of 20.00% and a return on equity of 116.56%. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.04 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Gartner will post 12.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Gartner

In other Gartner news, Director Eileen Serra sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.77, for a total value of $587,724.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,627 shares in the company, valued at $796,855.79. The trade was a 42.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP John J. Rinello sold 90 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.51, for a total value of $47,745.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,259 shares in the company, valued at $1,728,932.09. This trade represents a 2.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Gartner in the fourth quarter valued at about $460,541,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gartner in the fourth quarter worth about $244,799,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Gartner in the fourth quarter worth about $165,476,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Gartner by 184.6% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 390,472 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $189,172,000 after buying an additional 253,288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Gartner by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,822,122 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,367,233,000 after buying an additional 223,087 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Gartner Company Profile

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.