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

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

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on IT. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Gartner from $470.00 to $460.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Gartner from $529.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays raised Gartner from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $525.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Gartner from $579.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Gartner in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $552.63.

Gartner Price Performance

Shares of NYSE IT opened at $490.25 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $510.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $510.31. Gartner has a 1-year low of $411.15 and a 1-year high of $584.01. The firm has a market cap of $37.66 billion, a PE ratio of 30.58, 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.04 earnings per share. Gartner’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Gartner will post 12.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Eileen Serra sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.77, for a total transaction of $587,724.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,627 shares in the company, valued at approximately $796,855.79. This represents a 42.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 owns 3,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,728,932.09. This represents a 2.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,479 shares of company stock valued at $734,419 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gartner

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Gartner by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,268,639 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $4,490,378,000 after purchasing an additional 100,917 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Gartner by 1.1% in 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 buying an additional 36,258 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Gartner by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,822,122 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,367,233,000 after buying an additional 223,087 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Gartner by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,063,577 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $998,400,000 after buying an additional 45,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Gartner by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,012,799 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $975,141,000 after acquiring an additional 11,657 shares during the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.