Bank of Nova Scotia Buys 31,853 Shares of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT)

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in Gartner, Inc. by 110.2% during the first quarter, now owning approximately 0.08% of the company valued at $25.5 million.
• Gartner reported $2.98 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a revenue increase of 4.2% year-over-year.
• Institutional investors own 91.51% of Gartner's stock, indicating strong interest from larger financial entities in this firm.

Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in shares of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT - Free Report) by 110.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,749 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 31,853 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia owned 0.08% of Gartner worth $25,499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Gartner in the 4th quarter worth approximately $309,000. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in Gartner in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,255,000. Bryce Point Capital LLC purchased a new position in Gartner in the 4th quarter worth approximately $485,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Gartner in the 4th quarter worth approximately $251,000. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP grew its stake in Gartner by 290.5% in the 4th quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 12,056 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $5,841,000 after buying an additional 8,969 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.51% of the company's stock.

Gartner Trading Down 27.9%

NYSE:IT traded down $94.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $242.67. 1,660,165 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 708,569. The company has a fifty day moving average of $391.48 and a 200 day moving average of $435.60. Gartner, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.00 and a 12 month high of $584.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 1.19.

Gartner (NYSE:IT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The information technology services provider reported $3.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.37 by $0.16. Gartner had a net margin of 19.82% and a return on equity of 96.70%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.22 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Gartner, Inc. will post 12.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Gartner

In related news, CFO Craig Safian sold 3,415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.17, for a total transaction of $1,537,330.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 77,890 shares in the company, valued at $35,063,741.30. This represents a 4.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 transaction of $281,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,548 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,946,600. This represents a 8.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,426 shares of company stock worth $2,430,327 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on IT. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Gartner from $400.00 to $345.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 18th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Gartner from $500.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Gartner from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Gartner from $490.00 to $455.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Gartner presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $482.57.

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.