Gartner (NYSE:IT) Price Target Cut to $555.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Gartner (NYSE:IT - Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $564.00 to $555.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the information technology services provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target points to a potential upside of 7.49% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on IT. Barclays upgraded shares of 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Gartner from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Gartner from $470.00 to $460.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Gartner from $565.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Gartner from $529.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gartner presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $550.75.

Gartner Stock Performance

Shares of IT stock traded up $4.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $516.34. 971,178 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 467,498. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.83 billion, a PE ratio of 38.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.33. Gartner has a 12 month low of $411.15 and a 12 month high of $559.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $507.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $498.03.

Gartner (NYSE:IT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The information technology services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.05. Gartner had a return on equity of 118.27% and a net margin of 17.33%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.56 earnings per share. Gartner's revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Gartner will post 11.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Gartner

In other Gartner news, EVP Claire Herkes sold 411 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.24, for a total transaction of $214,229.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,494 shares in the company, valued at $778,732.56. This trade represents a 21.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director James C. Smith sold 10,000 shares of Gartner stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $535.76, for a total transaction of $5,357,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 554,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $296,957,838.24. The trade was a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 35,583 shares of company stock valued at $19,241,974. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Baron Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Gartner by 4.1% during the third quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 481 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in Gartner by 23.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 104 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its position in Gartner by 3.0% in the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 763 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Gartner by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 917 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Wallace Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Gartner by 2.4% during the second quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 980 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $440,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.51% of the company's stock.

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.