Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) Short Interest Up 5.3% in August

Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,200,000 shares, a growth of 5.3% from the August 15th total of 1,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 366,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Gartner Stock Down 0.2 %

IT stock traded down $0.86 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $506.49. The stock had a trading volume of 282,973 shares, compared to its average volume of 386,651. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.80, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $39.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a 50-day moving average of $479.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $461.18. Gartner has a 52-week low of $323.61 and a 52-week high of $515.09.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The information technology services provider reported $3.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.20. Gartner had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 142.05%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.85 earnings per share. Gartner’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Gartner will post 11.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Gartner news, CEO Eugene A. Hall sold 12,082 shares of Gartner stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.84, for a total transaction of $6,099,476.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,143,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $577,228,502.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Alwyn Dawkins sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.49, for a total transaction of $505,490.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,636,008.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Eugene A. Hall sold 12,082 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.84, for a total value of $6,099,476.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,143,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $577,228,502.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 65,164 shares of company stock worth $32,601,014. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gartner

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Gartner during the 4th quarter valued at about $388,781,000. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of Gartner during the second quarter valued at $266,541,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Gartner by 830.4% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 514,230 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $231,974,000 after buying an additional 458,963 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Gartner by 22.0% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,897,328 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $852,014,000 after buying an additional 341,911 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Gartner by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,852,820 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $835,826,000 after buying an additional 198,274 shares during the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on IT. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Gartner from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com lowered Gartner from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Gartner from $517.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Gartner from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Gartner from $450.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gartner has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $521.00.

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.