Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) Short Interest Update

Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) was the target of a large increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,200,000 shares, an increase of 5.3% from the August 15th total of 1,140,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 366,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Gartner Price Performance

NYSE:IT opened at $510.08 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.80, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $39.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $478.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $460.93. Gartner has a 1-year low of $323.61 and a 1-year high of $515.09.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The information technology services provider reported $3.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.20. Gartner had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 142.05%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.85 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Gartner will post 11.59 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on IT. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Gartner from $450.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Gartner from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Gartner to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Gartner from $517.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Gartner from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $521.00.

Insider Transactions at Gartner

In other news, CEO Eugene A. Hall sold 34,060 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.40, for a total value of $17,213,924.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,143,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $577,874,865.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Gartner news, EVP Akhil Jain sold 400 shares of Gartner stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $485.00, for a total value of $194,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,346,915. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Eugene A. Hall sold 34,060 shares of Gartner stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.40, for a total transaction of $17,213,924.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,143,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $577,874,865.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 65,164 shares of company stock valued at $32,601,014 in the last three months. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Gartner during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gartner during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in shares of Gartner during the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Gartner by 223.3% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 97 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Gartner by 58.7% during the first quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 146 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

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.