Gartner (NYSE:IT) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

Gartner (NYSE:IT - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Friday.

IT has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays upgraded Gartner from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $525.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Gartner from $470.00 to $460.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Gartner in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Gartner from $605.00 to $557.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Gartner from $564.00 to $555.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gartner presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $536.63.

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Gartner Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:IT traded down $8.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $421.46. The company had a trading volume of 1,383,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 394,755. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $499.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $507.17. Gartner has a one year low of $409.50 and a one year high of $584.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $32.38 billion, a PE ratio of 26.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.29.

Gartner (NYSE:IT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information technology services provider reported $5.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $2.23. Gartner had a return on equity of 116.56% and a net margin of 20.00%. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.04 earnings per share. Gartner's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Gartner will post 12.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Eileen Serra sold 1,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.77, for a total value of $587,724.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,627 shares in the company, valued at $796,855.79. The trade was a 42.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP John J. Rinello sold 90 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,728,932.09. This represents a 2.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gartner

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Gartner by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 16,725 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $8,103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,028 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Gartner in the 4th quarter valued at about $366,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in shares of Gartner by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 1,137 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $551,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gartner by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 31,626 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $15,322,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Gartner by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 105,769 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $53,599,000 after buying an additional 14,167 shares during 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.