Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Gartner, Inc. by 1.8% during the first quarter, owning approximately 12.28% of the company's stock, valued at about $3.96 billion.
• Gartner reported quarterly earnings of $3.53 per share, exceeding estimates by $0.15, while revenue was $1.66 billion, slightly below predictions.
• Several brokerages downgraded their target prices for Gartner, with Goldman Sachs reducing its target from $535 to $457, reflecting a more cautious outlook on the stock.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,433,449 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after buying an additional 164,810 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 12.28% of Gartner worth $3,959,596,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Gartner in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in Gartner by 453.3% during the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 83 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Gartner in the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Gartner by 210.8% in the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 115 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in Gartner in the 1st quarter worth approximately $55,000. 91.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP William James Wartinbee III sold 538 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $449.09, for a total transaction of $241,610.42. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 7,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,577,001.85. This represents a 6.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Akhil Jain sold 625 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were 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 directly owned 6,548 shares in the company, valued at $2,946,600. This trade represents a 8.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 4,578 shares of company stock valued at $2,060,191. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on IT. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Gartner from $409.00 to $272.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price target (down previously from $480.00) on shares of Gartner in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Gartner from $535.00 to $457.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Gartner from $455.00 to $322.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Gartner from $345.00 to $225.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gartner has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $369.25.

Gartner Price Performance

IT stock traded down $0.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $229.00. 2,105,581 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,350,028. Gartner, Inc. has a 52-week low of $227.14 and a 52-week high of $584.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $17.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.09 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $375.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $428.28.

Gartner (NYSE:IT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The information technology services provider reported $3.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.38 by $0.15. Gartner had a return on equity of 82.63% and a net margin of 19.71%. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.22 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Gartner, Inc. will post 12.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Gartner 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.