Headlands Technologies LLC Reduces Position in Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT)

Key Points

• Headlands Technologies LLC decreased its stake in Gartner, Inc. by 52.1%, selling 3,058 shares and leaving it with 2,810 shares valued at approximately $1.18 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard and Goldman Sachs, have increased their holdings in Gartner, with Vanguard raising its stake by 1.8%, now owning over $3.95 billion in shares.
• Analysts have substantially lowered their price targets for Gartner, with Morgan Stanley dropping it from $455 to $322 and several others also adjusting their estimates downwards.

Headlands Technologies LLC cut its holdings in Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT - Free Report) by 52.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,810 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 3,058 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC's holdings in Gartner were worth $1,179,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Gartner by 1.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,433,449 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $3,959,596,000 after buying an additional 164,810 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Gartner by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 956,223 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $401,365,000 after purchasing an additional 82,307 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Gartner by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 906,833 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $439,333,000 after acquiring an additional 88,800 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP grew its holdings in Gartner by 26.3% during the 1st quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 676,325 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $283,881,000 after buying an additional 140,898 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gartner by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 649,567 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $314,696,000 after purchasing an additional 74,422 shares in the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on IT. Barclays lowered their price objective on Gartner from $475.00 to $320.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Gartner from $455.00 to $322.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Gartner from $535.00 to $457.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Gartner from $345.00 to $225.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Gartner from $409.00 to $272.00 and set a "market perform" 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gartner currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $369.25.

Gartner Price Performance

Shares of IT stock traded down $0.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $229.00. 2,105,581 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,350,028. The firm has a market cap of $17.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.09 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $375.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $428.28. Gartner, Inc. has a twelve month low of $227.14 and a twelve month high of $584.01.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Akhil Jain sold 625 shares of Gartner stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $281,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,548 shares in the company, valued at $2,946,600. The trade was a 8.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP William James Wartinbee III sold 538 shares of Gartner stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $449.09, for a total transaction of $241,610.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 7,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,577,001.85. This trade represents a 6.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,578 shares of company stock worth $2,060,191 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

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.