Gartner (NYSE:IT) Sets New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT)’s share price hit a new 52-week low on Friday after Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on the stock from $605.00 to $557.00. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Gartner traded as low as $409.50 and last traded at $416.01, with a volume of 186143 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $418.77.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Gartner from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Gartner from $564.00 to $555.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays raised shares of Gartner from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $525.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Gartner in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Gartner from $470.00 to $460.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $546.63.

Insider Activity at Gartner

In related news, Director Eileen Serra sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.77, for a total transaction of $587,724.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $796,855.79. This represents a 42.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP John J. Rinello sold 90 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.51, for a total transaction of $47,745.90. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,728,932.09. This represents a 2.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gartner

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Gartner in the 4th quarter valued at about $460,541,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Gartner in the 4th quarter valued at about $244,799,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Gartner in the 4th quarter valued at about $165,476,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Gartner by 184.6% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 390,472 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $189,172,000 after purchasing an additional 253,288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Gartner by 8.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 223,087 shares during the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gartner Stock Down 0.5 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a market capitalization of $32.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $503.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $508.09.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 20.00% and a return on equity of 116.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.04 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Gartner, Inc. will post 12.5 EPS for the current year.

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.