Robert W. Baird Has Lowered Expectations for Gartner (NYSE:IT) Stock Price

Gartner (NYSE:IT) had its price target cut by Robert W. Baird from $605.00 to $557.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the information technology services provider’s stock.

IT has been the subject of several other research reports. StockNews.com raised Gartner from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Gartner from $470.00 to $460.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays raised Gartner from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $525.00 to $600.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Gartner in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Gartner from $564.00 to $555.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $546.63.

Gartner Price Performance

NYSE IT opened at $430.03 on Friday. Gartner has a twelve month low of $409.50 and a twelve month high of $584.01. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $33.03 billion, a PE ratio of 26.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $502.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $507.66.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information technology services provider reported $5.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $2.23. Gartner had a return on equity of 116.56% and a net margin of 20.00%. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Gartner will post 12.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP John J. Rinello sold 90 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.51, for a total transaction of $47,745.90. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,259 shares in the company, valued at $1,728,932.09. This represents a 2.69 % 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, Director Eileen Serra sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.77, for a total value of $587,724.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,627 shares in the company, valued at approximately $796,855.79. This trade represents a 42.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gartner

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of IT. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Gartner by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,001,142 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,014,099,000 after acquiring an additional 103,814 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Gartner by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 105,769 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $53,599,000 after acquiring an additional 14,167 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in Gartner by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 947 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $480,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Gartner in the 3rd quarter valued at $422,000. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. bought a new position in Gartner in the 3rd quarter valued at $646,000. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by 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.