Gartner (NYSE:IT) Hits New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) shares reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $409.00 and last traded at $413.19, with a volume of 1236924 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $419.74.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on IT shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Gartner from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Gartner from $605.00 to $557.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Gartner in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays raised Gartner from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $525.00 to $600.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Gartner from $565.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $536.63.

Gartner Trading Down 4.6 %

The stock has a market cap of $31.11 billion, a PE ratio of 25.26, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $485.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $503.07.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information technology services provider reported $5.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.04 earnings per share. Gartner’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Gartner, Inc. will post 12.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Gartner

In other Gartner news, Director Eileen Serra sold 1,200 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $796,855.79. This represents a 42.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP John J. Rinello sold 90 shares of Gartner 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,259 shares in the company, valued at $1,728,932.09. This trade represents a 2.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gartner

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Gartner in the fourth quarter worth about $460,541,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Gartner during the 4th quarter worth approximately $244,799,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Gartner in the 4th quarter worth approximately $165,476,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Gartner by 184.6% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 390,472 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $189,172,000 after purchasing an additional 253,288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gartner by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,822,122 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,367,233,000 after purchasing an additional 223,087 shares during the period. 91.51% of the stock is 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.