Gartner (NYSE:IT) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

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

IT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Gartner from $529.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Gartner from $470.00 to $460.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Gartner from $565.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Gartner from $564.00 to $555.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Gartner from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $525.00 to $600.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $550.75.

Gartner Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:IT opened at $537.45 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.63, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.33. Gartner has a 1-year low of $411.15 and a 1-year high of $559.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $505.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $502.00.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The information technology services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.05. Gartner had a return on equity of 118.27% and a net margin of 17.33%. The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.56 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Gartner will post 11.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James C. Smith sold 10,000 shares of Gartner stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $535.76, for a total value of $5,357,600.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 554,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $296,957,838.24. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claire Herkes sold 411 shares of Gartner stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.24, for a total value of $214,229.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $778,732.56. This represents a 21.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,583 shares of company stock worth $19,241,974 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gartner

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Gartner by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,257,355 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,650,697,000 after purchasing an additional 36,258 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Gartner by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,018,358 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,020,378,000 after purchasing an additional 36,698 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Gartner by 5.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,001,142 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,014,099,000 after purchasing an additional 103,814 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Gartner by 7.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,036,530 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $525,272,000 after purchasing an additional 70,236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Gartner by 3.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 801,589 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $422,678,000 after purchasing an additional 25,315 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.