Morgan Stanley Cuts Gartner (NYSE:IT) Price Target to $275.00

Gartner (NYSE:IT) had its price target dropped by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $281.00 to $275.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the information technology services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 7.69% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on IT. UBS Group set a $256.00 target price on shares of Gartner and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Gartner in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Gartner from $457.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Gartner in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Gartner from $272.00 to $254.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $308.11.

Gartner Stock Up 3.2%

Shares of NYSE IT traded up $8.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $255.37. 152,937 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 952,903. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.42, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Gartner has a twelve month low of $222.54 and a twelve month high of $584.01. The company has a market cap of $18.41 billion, a PE ratio of 22.40 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $236.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $289.12.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The information technology services provider reported $2.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. Gartner had a net margin of 13.71% and a return on equity of 92.12%. Gartner has set its FY 2025 guidance at 12.650- EPS. Research analysts predict that Gartner will post 12.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP John J. Rinello sold 220 shares of Gartner stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.57, for a total transaction of $50,505.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 3,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $699,270.22. This trade represents a 6.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claire Herkes sold 367 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.56, for a total value of $84,982.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 4,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $943,375.44. This trade represents a 8.26% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gartner

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Gartner in the 4th quarter valued at about $309,000. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its stake in shares of Gartner by 236.8% in the first quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 1,886 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $790,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of Gartner by 47.1% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 553 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Gartner by 11.0% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,006,655 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $422,533,000 after buying an additional 99,822 shares during the period. Finally, Korea Investment CORP boosted its position in shares of Gartner by 16.5% during the first quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 60,282 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $25,303,000 after buying an additional 8,540 shares during the period. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.