Robert W. Baird Lowers Gartner (NYSE:IT) Price Target to $557.00

Gartner (NYSE:IT) had its price target decreased by Robert W. Baird from $605.00 to $557.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the information technology services provider’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price target indicates a potential upside of 29.52% from the company’s previous close.

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

Gartner Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:IT opened at $430.03 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $502.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $507.84. Gartner has a 52 week low of $409.50 and a 52 week high of $584.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.83, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.29. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information technology services provider reported $5.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $2.23. Gartner had a return on equity of 116.56% and a net margin of 20.00%. The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.04 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Gartner will post 12.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Eileen Serra sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 1,627 shares in the company, valued at $796,855.79. The trade was a 42.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP John J. Rinello sold 90 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.51, for a total transaction of $47,745.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,728,932.09. This represents a 2.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gartner

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Gartner by 2.9% during the 4th 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. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.