Gartner (NYSE:IT) Reaches New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) reached a new 52-week low on Monday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $600.00 to $510.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Gartner traded as low as $366.05 and last traded at $377.84, with a volume of 229952 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $383.24.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Gartner from $564.00 to $555.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group cut their price target on Gartner from $565.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Gartner from $605.00 to $557.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Gartner from $470.00 to $460.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Gartner in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $525.38.

Insider Activity at Gartner

In other Gartner news, Director Eileen Serra sold 1,200 shares of the company’s 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 $796,855.79. This represents a 42.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP John J. Rinello sold 90 shares of Gartner stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.51, for a total value of $47,745.90. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gartner

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IT. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gartner in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Gartner in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in Gartner by 453.3% in the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 83 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Gartner during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gartner during the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,000. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gartner Stock Down 1.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.57, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $482.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $502.12.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information technology services provider reported $5.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $2.23. Gartner had a return on equity of 116.56% 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 quarter last year, the company earned $3.04 earnings per share. Gartner’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Gartner, Inc. will post 12.5 EPS for the current fiscal 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.