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

Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) shares hit a new 52-week low on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $400.00 to $345.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Gartner traded as low as $352.29 and last traded at $353.18, with a volume of 148701 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $355.40.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Gartner from $605.00 to $557.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wall Street Zen cut Gartner from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Gartner from $622.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Gartner from $500.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on 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 assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $507.56.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Craig Safian sold 3,415 shares of Gartner stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 77,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,063,741.30. The trade was a 4.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP John J. Rinello sold 109 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.35, for a total value of $47,562.15. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 3,280 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,431,228. The trade was a 3.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,426 shares of company stock valued at $2,430,327 in the last 90 days. 3.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gartner

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of IT. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its position in shares of Gartner by 11.5% in the first quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 921 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Gartner by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 3,379 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,637,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Three Seasons Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gartner in the 4th quarter valued at $731,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Gartner by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 42,389 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $17,792,000 after acquiring an additional 1,484 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Gartner during the 4th quarter worth $309,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Gartner Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $27.17 billion, a PE ratio of 25.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company’s 50 day moving average is $412.83 and its 200-day moving average is $447.12.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The information technology services provider reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.72 by $0.26. Gartner had a net margin of 19.82% and a return on equity of 96.70%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Gartner, Inc. will post 12.5 earnings per share for the current year.

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.