Bessemer Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT)

Bessemer Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT - Free Report) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 745,214 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 6,998 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. owned about 0.97% of Gartner worth $312,795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of IT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Gartner in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $460,541,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gartner in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $244,799,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Gartner by 40,841.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 499,071 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $209,480,000 after acquiring an additional 497,852 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Gartner during the fourth quarter worth approximately $165,476,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Gartner by 184.6% during the 4th 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. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP John J. Rinello sold 109 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.35, for a total transaction of $47,562.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,280 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,431,228. This represents a 3.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Robin B. Kranich sold 739 shares of Gartner stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.50, for a total transaction of $322,573.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,464 shares in the company, valued at $8,932,536. This trade represents a 3.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,426 shares of company stock worth $2,430,327. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

Gartner Price Performance

Shares of NYSE IT traded up $1.70 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $404.34. 897,198 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 494,551. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $423.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $460.43. Gartner, Inc. has a twelve month low of $366.05 and a twelve month high of $584.01. The company has a market cap of $31.12 billion, a PE ratio of 25.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.23. 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 (NYSE:IT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The information technology services provider reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.72 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. Gartner had a return on equity of 96.70% and a net margin of 19.82%. The firm's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Gartner, Inc. will post 12.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on IT. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Gartner from $605.00 to $557.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Gartner from $622.00 to $535.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Gartner from $525.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Gartner from $401.00 to $400.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Gartner from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $515.89.

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.