Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Shares of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the nine research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $518.67.

IT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Gartner from $605.00 to $557.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Gartner from $622.00 to $535.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Gartner from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Gartner from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Gartner from $401.00 to $400.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st.

Gartner Stock Down 1.0%

IT traded down $4.57 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $439.09. The company had a trading volume of 440,448 shares, compared to its average volume of 457,824. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $419.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $476.17. Gartner has a 52 week low of $366.05 and a 52 week high of $584.01. The company has a market capitalization of $33.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.39, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.24. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The information technology services provider reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.72 by $0.26. Gartner had a return on equity of 116.56% and a net margin of 20.00%. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Gartner will post 12.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Gartner

In related news, CFO Craig Safian sold 3,415 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.17, for a total transaction of $1,537,330.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 77,890 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,063,741.30. This trade represents a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP William James Wartinbee III sold 538 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $449.09, for a total value of $241,610.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,577,001.85. This represents a 6.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,426 shares of company stock valued at $2,430,327. 2.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gartner

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in IT. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Gartner by 8.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 166,787 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $84,520,000 after buying an additional 13,205 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Gartner by 7.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,036,530 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $525,272,000 after acquiring an additional 70,236 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Gartner during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $772,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Gartner by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 553 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Gartner by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 473 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.