Citigroup Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT)

Key Points

• Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Gartner, Inc. by 82.0% in the first quarter, owning 91,703 shares worth approximately $38.5 million after acquiring more shares.
• Insider transactions revealed that EVP Akhil Jain sold 625 shares at an average price of $450, reducing his ownership by 8.71%.
• Analysts recently downgraded their price targets for Gartner, with Barclays lowering theirs from $475 to $320 and Wells Fargo downgrading from $345 to $225.

Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in shares of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT - Free Report) by 82.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 91,703 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 41,313 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Gartner worth $38,491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new stake in Gartner during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Gartner during the first quarter worth about $42,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Gartner by 210.8% during the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 115 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in Gartner in the first quarter worth about $55,000. Institutional investors own 91.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on IT shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Gartner from $455.00 to $322.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Gartner from $345.00 to $225.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Gartner from $475.00 to $320.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 target price (down previously from $480.00) on shares of Gartner in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective 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, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $369.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Akhil Jain sold 625 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $281,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,548 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,946,600. This trade represents a 8.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Gartner Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of IT traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $243.34. The stock had a trading volume of 1,982,415 shares, compared to its average volume of 795,268. Gartner, Inc. has a 1 year low of $223.65 and a 1 year high of $584.01. The firm has a market cap of $18.73 billion, a PE ratio of 14.98 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock's 50 day moving average is $363.58 and its 200 day moving average is $422.88.

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