Gartner (NYSE:IT) Shares Down 6.3% - What's Next?

Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT - Get Free Report)'s stock price dropped 6.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $420.85 and last traded at $420.93. Approximately 609,409 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 59% from the average daily volume of 383,274 shares. The stock had previously closed at $449.43.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Gartner from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Gartner from $470.00 to $460.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Gartner from $564.00 to $555.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays upgraded shares of Gartner from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $525.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Gartner from $605.00 to $557.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $546.63.

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Gartner Trading Down 0.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $33.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.81, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.29. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $502.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $507.99. 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 (NYSE:IT - Get Free Report) 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. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. Gartner had a return on equity of 116.56% and a net margin of 20.00%. Gartner's revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.04 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Gartner, Inc. will post 12.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Gartner

In other Gartner news, Director Eileen Serra sold 1,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.77, for a total value of $587,724.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,627 shares of the company's stock, valued at $796,855.79. The trade was a 42.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP John J. Rinello sold 90 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.51, for a total value of $47,745.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,259 shares in the company, valued at $1,728,932.09. This trade represents a 2.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gartner

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Gartner by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,268,639 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $4,490,378,000 after buying an additional 100,917 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Gartner by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,257,355 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $1,650,697,000 after purchasing an additional 36,258 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Gartner by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,822,122 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $1,367,233,000 after buying an additional 223,087 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Gartner by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,063,577 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $998,400,000 after buying an additional 45,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Gartner by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,012,799 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $975,141,000 after acquiring an additional 11,657 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.51% of the company's stock.

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.