Gartner (NYSE:IT) Lifted to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Gartner (NYSE:IT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Thursday morning.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on IT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Gartner in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued a hold rating and a $507.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Gartner from $450.00 to $432.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Gartner from $536.00 to $517.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Gartner from $550.00 to $510.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Gartner from $421.00 to $446.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $474.50.

Gartner Stock Performance

Shares of Gartner stock traded up $9.60 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $428.64. The company had a trading volume of 478,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 463,111. The stock has a market cap of $33.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.65, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $462.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $440.89. Gartner has a 12-month low of $295.43 and a 12-month high of $486.54.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.47 billion. Gartner had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 141.55%. Gartner’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.88 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Gartner will post 11.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Gartner

In other news, EVP Akhil Jain sold 250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.55, for a total transaction of $116,137.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,433,777.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Claire Herkes sold 1,460 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.76, for a total transaction of $694,609.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 2,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,352,109.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Akhil Jain sold 250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.55, for a total value of $116,137.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,433,777.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,952 shares of company stock valued at $10,598,070 in the last 90 days. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IT. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Gartner in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Gartner in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. MCF Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Gartner in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Gartner in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Gartner by 254.2% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 85 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.