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

Gartner (NYSE:IT) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday.

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

Gartner Price Performance

Shares of IT stock opened at $449.06 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42. Gartner has a twelve month low of $323.61 and a twelve month high of $486.54. The company has a market cap of $34.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $439.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $452.24.

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

Insider Transactions at Gartner

In other news, Director James C. Smith sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.20, for a total transaction of $4,552,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 608,369 shares in the company, valued at $276,929,568.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Yvonne Genovese sold 439 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.13, for a total transaction of $200,241.07. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $893,558.67. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James C. Smith sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.20, for a total value of $4,552,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 sold 22,544 shares of company stock worth $10,079,813 over the last ninety days. 3.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gartner

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Gartner in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Gartner in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. MCF Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Gartner in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its stake in Gartner by 59.5% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 67 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Gartner in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

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.