Gartner (NYSE:IT) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

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

IT has been the subject of several other reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Gartner from $536.00 to $517.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Gartner from $450.00 to $432.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Gartner in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $507.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Gartner from $550.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gartner currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $474.50.

Gartner Price Performance

Gartner stock opened at $449.06 on Friday. Gartner has a 1 year low of $323.61 and a 1 year high of $486.54. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $439.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $452.24. The company has a market cap of $34.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.68, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James C. Smith sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.20, for a total value of $4,552,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 608,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $276,929,568.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Alwyn Dawkins sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.57, for a total transaction of $363,656.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 50,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,084,428.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director James C. Smith sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.20, for a total transaction of $4,552,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 608,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $276,929,568.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,544 shares of company stock valued at $10,079,813 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gartner

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gartner in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new position in Gartner during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Gartner during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Gartner by 254.2% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 85 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Gartner by 357.9% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 87 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.