UPDATE: J.P. Morgan Lowering Price Target On Gartner Inc.

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is out with a research report on Gartner Inc. IT and is lowering its price target to $42 from $43 and is keeping its Overweight rating on shares. In a note to clients, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. writes, "We are reiterating our Overweight rating on Gartner shares ahead of Q2,11 earnings on August 2. We are lifting Q2 expenses slightly on our expectation for a modest acceleration in sales force hiring. (Our EPS estimate is now in-line with consensus.) We think Gartner will post an in-line quarter. We think demand for technology syndicate research remains at a high level across the industry. That's driven by trends in mobile, social media, cloud computing, globalization, and online security. Gartner recently increased its 2011Worldwide IT spending growth forecast to 7.1% from 5.6%. While we do not think Gartner's business is highly correlated with tech industry spending due to Gartner's sizable market opportunity, dominant competitive position, etc., we do believe it is a positive signal for broader industry trends. Our December 2011 price target is $42." Shares of IT lost 7 cents yesterday to close at $38.39.