StockNews.com Upgrades Gartner (NYSE:IT) to Buy

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

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

Gartner Price Performance

IT traded up $9.60 on Thursday, hitting $428.64. 478,615 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 463,111. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $462.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $440.27. The stock has a market cap of $33.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.32. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $295.43 and a fifty-two week high of $486.54.

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

Insider Activity at Gartner

In other Gartner news, EVP Akhil Jain sold 250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.55, for a total transaction of $116,137.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,433,777.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Gartner news, EVP Akhil Jain sold 250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.55, for a total value of $116,137.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,433,777.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Valentin Sribar sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.00, for a total value of $308,946.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,557,857. 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. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gartner

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in IT. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in Gartner by 32.3% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 5,371 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,846,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Gartner by 115.5% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 5,601 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,925,000 after purchasing an additional 3,002 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Gartner by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 122,804 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $42,197,000 after buying an additional 7,377 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Gartner in the 3rd quarter valued at $373,000. Finally, Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Gartner by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,588 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $546,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.