Piper Jaffray Expects Upbeat Commentary From IT's CEO

Gartner Group IT will host its annual investor day in Greenwich, CT, “with all of its impressive senior management team on display,” Piper Jaffray reports. “We expect upbeat commentary from CEO Gene Hall on both current business trends as well as the secular outlook (consistent with the recent 4Q earnings call),” Piper Jaffray writes. “Like Moody's Corp. MCO, a key component of this story is the company's ability to demonstrate positive margin leverage as revenue growth accelerates. “The stock's been the best performer in our universe in the past 12 months (up 73% vs. the S&P500”s 23% gain). We bumped our price target up to $42 (from $33) after strong 4Q results reported last week.” Gartner Group closed Friday at $30.46.