Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Gartner (NYSE:IT) Stock Price

Gartner (NYSE:IT) had its price target reduced by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $564.00 to $555.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the information technology services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 8.49% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on IT. Barclays upgraded shares of Gartner from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $525.00 to $600.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Gartner from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Gartner from $565.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Gartner from $470.00 to $460.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Gartner from $529.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Gartner currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $550.75.

Gartner Stock Up 0.4 %

IT traded up $2.29 during trading on Thursday, reaching $511.57. The stock had a trading volume of 112,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 392,477. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31. The company has a market capitalization of $39.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $508.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $497.40. Gartner has a one year low of $411.15 and a one year high of $559.00.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The information technology services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.05. Gartner had a net margin of 17.33% and a return on equity of 118.27%. The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Gartner will post 11.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Claire Herkes sold 411 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.24, for a total value of $214,229.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $778,732.56. This trade represents a 21.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP William James Wartinbee III sold 189 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $523.54, for a total transaction of $98,949.06. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,311 shares in the company, valued at $3,827,600.94. This trade represents a 2.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 35,583 shares of company stock worth $19,241,974. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gartner

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IT. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Gartner in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gartner in the third quarter worth $44,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of Gartner by 2,350.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 98 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in Gartner by 23.8% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 104 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gartner by 46.5% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 148 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. 91.51% of the stock is 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.