Morgan Stanley Lowers Gartner (NYSE:IT) Price Target to $555.00

Gartner (NYSE:IT) had its target price cut by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $564.00 to $555.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the information technology services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential upside of 8.49% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on IT. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Gartner from $470.00 to $460.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays upgraded shares of Gartner from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $525.00 to $600.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com cut Gartner from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Gartner from $529.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Gartner from $565.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $550.75.

Gartner Price Performance

Gartner stock traded up $2.29 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $511.57. The company had a trading volume of 112,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 392,477. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Gartner has a 12-month low of $411.15 and a 12-month high of $559.00. The company has a market capitalization of $39.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $508.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $497.40.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The information technology services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. Gartner had a return on equity of 118.27% and a net margin of 17.33%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Gartner will post 11.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Gartner news, Director James C. Smith sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $535.76, for a total value of $5,357,600.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 554,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $296,957,838.24. The trade was a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Claire Herkes sold 411 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.24, for a total value of $214,229.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $778,732.56. This represents a 21.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,583 shares of company stock valued at $19,241,974 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gartner

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IT. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Gartner during the third quarter worth $26,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Gartner during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in Gartner by 2,350.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 98 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gartner by 23.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 104 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in shares of Gartner by 46.5% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 148 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.