Gartner (NYSE:IT) Sees Large Volume Increase – Time to Buy?

Shares of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 1,099,820 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 192% from the previous session’s volume of 376,963 shares.The stock last traded at $447.90 and had previously closed at $461.70.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on IT shares. 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 report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com raised Gartner from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Gartner from $579.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. 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 report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Gartner in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gartner presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $552.63.

Gartner Stock Down 7.0 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $505.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $508.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $32.09 billion, a PE ratio of 26.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gartner news, SVP John J. Rinello sold 90 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.51, for a total value of $47,745.90. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,728,932.09. The trade was a 2.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Eileen Serra sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.77, for a total value of $587,724.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $796,855.79. This represents a 42.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gartner

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Gartner by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 16,725 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $8,103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,028 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Gartner during the 4th quarter worth about $366,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in shares of Gartner by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 1,137 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $551,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Gartner by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 31,626 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $15,322,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 14,167 shares during the last quarter. 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.