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 note published on Wednesday morning.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on IT. Barclays raised Gartner from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $525.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Gartner in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Gartner from $579.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Gartner from $470.00 to $460.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target 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. One equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $552.63.

Gartner Price Performance

IT opened at $490.25 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Gartner has a 1 year low of $411.15 and a 1 year high of $584.01. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $510.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $510.31. The firm has a market cap of $37.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.58, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.34.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last issued its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. Gartner had a net margin of 20.00% and a return on equity of 116.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.04 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Gartner will post 12.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Gartner

In other news, SVP John J. Rinello sold 90 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP William James Wartinbee III sold 189 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $523.54, for a total value of $98,949.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,311 shares in the company, valued at $3,827,600.94. The trade was a 2.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,479 shares of company stock valued at $734,419. 3.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gartner

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Gartner by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,246 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,658,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gartner in the third quarter worth about $289,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Gartner by 10.8% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 26,139 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $13,246,000 after buying an additional 2,549 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Gartner by 17.0% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,038 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,540,000 after buying an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ASB Consultores LLC purchased a new position in Gartner during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $239,000. 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.