Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Decreases Stock Position in Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lessened its stake in shares of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT - Free Report) by 44.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 150,121 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 122,146 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.20% of Gartner worth $63,012,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in Gartner by 0.9% during the first quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 20,844 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $8,749,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Gartner by 3.6% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 42,389 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $17,792,000 after buying an additional 1,484 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Gartner by 81.6% in the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,665 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $699,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gartner by 13.1% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 1,427 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $599,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gartner by 13.6% in the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 585 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Gartner news, EVP Akhil Jain sold 625 shares of the business'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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,548 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,946,600. The trade was a 8.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP John J. Rinello sold 109 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.35, for a total transaction of $47,562.15. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,280 shares in the company, valued at $1,431,228. The trade was a 3.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,426 shares of company stock valued at $2,430,327 in the last ninety days. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Gartner from $401.00 to $400.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Gartner from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Gartner from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Gartner from $622.00 to $535.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Gartner from $605.00 to $557.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $518.67.

Gartner Stock Down 2.2%

IT stock traded down $9.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $404.55. 558,766 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 476,469. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Gartner, Inc. has a 1-year low of $366.05 and a 1-year high of $584.01. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $423.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $466.91. The company has a market cap of $31.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.23.

Gartner (NYSE:IT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The information technology services provider reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.72 by $0.26. Gartner had a net margin of 20.00% and a return on equity of 116.56%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Gartner, Inc. will post 12.5 earnings per share for the current year.

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.