Gartner (NYSE:IT) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Gartner (NYSE:IT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Thursday morning.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Gartner in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued a hold rating and a $507.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Gartner from $536.00 to $517.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Gartner from $421.00 to $446.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Gartner from $550.00 to $510.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Gartner from $450.00 to $432.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gartner currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $474.50.

Gartner Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:IT traded up $6.08 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $434.72. The stock had a trading volume of 187,917 shares, compared to its average volume of 408,154. The company has a market capitalization of $33.90 billion, a PE ratio of 42.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 1.32. Gartner has a 1 year low of $300.94 and a 1 year high of $486.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $462.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $441.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.40. Gartner had a return on equity of 141.55% and a net margin of 13.35%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.88 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Gartner will post 11.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gartner

In related news, EVP Claire Herkes sold 1,460 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.76, for a total transaction of $694,609.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,842 shares in the company, valued at $1,352,109.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director James C. Smith sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $470.09, for a total transaction of $2,350,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 618,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $290,626,091.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claire Herkes sold 1,460 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.76, for a total transaction of $694,609.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,352,109.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 22,952 shares of company stock worth $10,598,070. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gartner

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Gartner by 4.6% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,157,075 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $741,193,000 after buying an additional 95,040 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Gartner by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,852,820 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $835,826,000 after purchasing an additional 198,274 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Gartner by 30.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,565,046 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $537,766,000 after purchasing an additional 364,128 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Gartner by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,208,914 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $545,353,000 after purchasing an additional 52,826 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Gartner by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 920,716 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $415,344,000 after purchasing an additional 143,556 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

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.