Robert W. Baird Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Gartner (NYSE:IT) Stock Price

Gartner (NYSE:IT) had its target price lowered by investment analysts at Robert W. Baird from $605.00 to $557.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the information technology services provider’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 29.52% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Gartner in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Gartner from $470.00 to $460.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Gartner from $564.00 to $555.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays upgraded Gartner from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $525.00 to $600.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Gartner from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $546.63.

Gartner Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of IT opened at $430.03 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $502.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $507.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $33.03 billion, a PE ratio of 26.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.29. Gartner has a fifty-two week low of $409.50 and a fifty-two week high of $584.01.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information technology services provider reported $5.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $2.23. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. Gartner had a return on equity of 116.56% and a net margin of 20.00%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.04 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Gartner will post 12.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gartner

In other news, Director Eileen Serra sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.77, for a total transaction of $587,724.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $796,855.79. This trade represents a 42.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP John J. Rinello sold 90 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.51, for a total transaction of $47,745.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,259 shares in the company, valued at $1,728,932.09. The trade was a 2.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gartner

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Gartner by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 452 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its holdings in Gartner by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,364 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $661,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its holdings in Gartner by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 826 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Gartner by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,210 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $586,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Gartner by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 737 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during 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.