Gartner (NYSE:IT) Sets New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Friday after StockNews.com downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The company traded as low as $409.50 and last traded at $416.01, with a volume of 186143 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $418.77.

IT has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Gartner from $470.00 to $460.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays upgraded shares of Gartner from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $525.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Gartner from $605.00 to $557.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Gartner in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $546.63.

Insider Activity at Gartner

In related news, Director Eileen Serra sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.77, for a total transaction 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 approximately $796,855.79. This represents a 42.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP John J. Rinello sold 90 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gartner

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IT. Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of Gartner by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 16,725 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $8,103,000 after buying an additional 1,028 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Gartner during the 4th quarter worth approximately $366,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake 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 worth $551,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gartner by 1.5% in 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, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Gartner by 8.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 166,787 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $84,520,000 after purchasing an additional 13,205 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Gartner Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $33.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.83, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s fifty day moving average is $502.37 and its 200 day moving average is $507.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information technology services provider reported $5.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $2.23. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.04 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Gartner, Inc. will post 12.5 EPS for the current year.

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.