StockNews.com Upgrades Gartner (NYSE:IT) to Buy

Gartner (NYSE:IT) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Gartner in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $507.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on Gartner from $550.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Gartner from $450.00 to $432.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Gartner from $421.00 to $446.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Gartner from $536.00 to $517.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Gartner has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $474.50.

Gartner Price Performance

Shares of IT traded up $9.60 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $428.64. 478,615 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 463,111. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $462.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $440.27. Gartner has a 12-month low of $295.43 and a 12-month high of $486.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $33.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.32.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.40. Gartner had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 141.55%. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.88 earnings per share. Gartner’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Gartner will post 11.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gartner

In other news, EVP Yvonne Genovese sold 560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.37, for a total transaction of $256,127.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,096,773.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Yvonne Genovese sold 560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.37, for a total transaction of $256,127.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,096,773.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Valentin Sribar sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.00, for a total transaction of $308,946.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,557,857. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,952 shares of company stock worth $10,598,070 in the last 90 days. 3.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gartner

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Gartner in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gartner in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Gartner in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gartner during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Gartner by 254.2% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 85 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.