Gartner (NYSE:IT) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

Gartner (NYSE:IT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on IT. Morgan Stanley cut 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped 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. Barclays upgraded shares of Gartner from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $525.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Gartner from $470.00 to $460.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Gartner from $579.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $552.63.

Gartner Trading Down 0.4 %

IT traded down $1.83 on Wednesday, hitting $515.34. The company had a trading volume of 353,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 480,360. Gartner has a 1 year low of $411.15 and a 1 year high of $584.01. The firm has a market cap of $39.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.15, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 1.34. The company's fifty day moving average price is $510.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $508.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31.

Gartner (NYSE:IT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information technology services provider reported $5.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $2.23. Gartner had a return on equity of 136.32% and a net margin of 20.00%. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.04 EPS. Gartner's revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Gartner will post 12.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Gartner

In related news, EVP Claire Herkes sold 411 shares of Gartner stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.24, for a total value of $214,229.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $778,732.56. This trade represents a 21.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James C. Smith sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.02, for a total transaction of $2,620,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 509,457 shares of the company's stock, valued at $266,965,657.14. The trade was a 0.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,690 shares of company stock valued at $2,981,025. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Gartner

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CX Institutional raised its holdings in shares of Gartner by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,197 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $607,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Gartner by 13.9% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,735 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $5,440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307 shares in the last quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gartner in the third quarter valued at $223,000. NBC Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Gartner by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 3,311 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC increased its stake in Gartner by 46.5% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 148 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gartner Company Profile

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.