Gartner (NYSE:IT) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Gartner (NYSE:IT) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Gartner from $579.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Gartner in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Gartner from $529.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Gartner from $564.00 to $555.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Gartner from $470.00 to $460.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gartner currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $552.63.

Gartner Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:IT traded up $5.45 on Tuesday, reaching $503.01. 548,803 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 487,172. Gartner has a twelve month low of $411.15 and a twelve month high of $584.01. The company has a fifty day moving average of $509.46 and a 200-day moving average of $509.89. The company has a market capitalization of $38.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.38, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information technology services provider reported $5.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $2.23. Gartner had a return on equity of 116.56% and a net margin of 20.00%. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.04 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Gartner will post 12.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Gartner

In other Gartner news, EVP Claire Herkes sold 411 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.24, for a total value of $214,229.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $778,732.56. This trade represents a 21.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP John J. Rinello sold 90 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.51, for a total value of $47,745.90. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,728,932.09. This trade represents a 2.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 690 shares of company stock valued at $360,925 in the last 90 days. 3.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gartner

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Gartner during the 4th quarter worth $460,541,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gartner in the fourth quarter valued at about $244,799,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Gartner during the fourth quarter worth about $165,476,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Gartner by 184.6% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 390,472 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $189,172,000 after acquiring an additional 253,288 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Gartner by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,822,122 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,367,233,000 after acquiring an additional 223,087 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.