Gartner (NYSE:IT) Shares Down 6.3% – Time to Sell?

Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT)’s stock price was down 6.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $420.85 and last traded at $420.93. Approximately 609,409 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 59% from the average daily volume of 383,274 shares. The stock had previously closed at $449.43.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on IT shares. Barclays upgraded Gartner from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $525.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Gartner from $564.00 to $555.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Gartner from $470.00 to $460.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Gartner in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Gartner from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gartner presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $552.63.

Gartner Price Performance

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’s 50 day moving average is $505.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $508.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.09 billion, a PE ratio of 26.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.29.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information technology services provider reported $5.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $2.23. Gartner had a net margin of 20.00% and a return on equity of 116.56%. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.04 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Gartner, Inc. will post 12.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Eileen Serra sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were 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 owns 1,627 shares in the company, valued at $796,855.79. This trade represents a 42.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP John J. Rinello sold 90 shares of the firm’s 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 owns 3,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,728,932.09. This represents a 2.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gartner

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IT. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Gartner in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gartner in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its stake in shares of Gartner by 453.3% in the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 83 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Gartner in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of Gartner by 2,350.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 98 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

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.