Advisors Preferred LLC Makes New Investment in Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT)

Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,620 shares of the information technology services provider's stock, valued at approximately $670,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gartner during the 4th quarter worth about $309,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of Gartner by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 3,379 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,637,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Gartner by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 30,726 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $14,886,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gartner during the 4th quarter worth about $348,000. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its position in shares of Gartner by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 1,643 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $796,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Gartner from $500.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Gartner from $400.00 to $345.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Gartner from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Gartner from $622.00 to $535.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $507.56.

Insider Activity at Gartner

In related news, EVP Akhil Jain sold 625 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $281,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,548 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,946,600. The trade was a 8.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP John J. Rinello sold 109 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.35, for a total value of $47,562.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 3,280 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,431,228. This trade represents a 3.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,426 shares of company stock valued at $2,430,327. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Gartner Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE IT traded up $0.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $356.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 753,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 867,332. The stock has a market cap of $27.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.19. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $403.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $442.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Gartner, Inc. has a one year low of $352.29 and a one year high of $584.01.

Gartner (NYSE:IT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The information technology services provider reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.72 by $0.26. Gartner had a net margin of 19.82% and a return on equity of 96.70%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Gartner, Inc. will post 12.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.