Gartner's (IT) "Neutral" Rating Reaffirmed at UBS Group

Key Points

• UBS Group has reaffirmed a "neutral" rating for Gartner with a newly reduced price target of $270.00, significantly down from $480.00, suggesting a 10.53% potential upside.
• Gartner's stock has seen a 27.5% decline recently, trading at approximately $244.27, with the company reporting a quarterly earnings per share of $3.53, exceeding analyst expectations.
• Multiple analysts have adjusted their price targets for Gartner, with the average target price now at $452.57, and ratings varied between buy, hold, and sell.

Gartner (NYSE:IT - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "neutral" rating reissued by research analysts at UBS Group in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $270.00 price target on the information technology services provider's stock, down from their prior price target of $480.00. UBS Group's target price suggests a potential upside of 10.53% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on IT. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Gartner from $622.00 to $535.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Gartner from $400.00 to $345.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Gartner from $490.00 to $455.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Gartner from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Gartner currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $452.57.

Gartner Trading Down 27.5%

Shares of IT stock opened at $244.27 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $18.80 billion, a PE ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 1.19. Gartner has a 1 year low of $231.00 and a 1 year high of $584.01. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $387.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $434.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Gartner (NYSE:IT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The information technology services provider reported $3.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.38 by $0.15. Gartner had a net margin of 19.82% and a return on equity of 96.70%. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.22 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Gartner will post 12.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gartner news, EVP William James Wartinbee III sold 538 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 7,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,577,001.85. The trade was a 6.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Craig Safian sold 3,415 shares of Gartner stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.17, for a total transaction of $1,537,330.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 77,890 shares in the company, valued at $35,063,741.30. The trade was a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,578 shares of company stock valued at $2,060,191. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gartner during the 4th quarter worth $309,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Gartner by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 49,728 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $24,100,000 after buying an additional 6,757 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Gartner by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 955,134 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $462,734,000 after buying an additional 60,306 shares during the period. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in Gartner by 48.7% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 17,342 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $8,402,000 after buying an additional 5,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its position in shares of Gartner by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 1,883 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $912,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. 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.

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