Oak Thistle LLC Makes New Investment in Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT)

Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,364 shares of the information technology services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,671,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IT. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $283,881,000 after purchasing an additional 140,898 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its stake in shares of Gartner by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 26,490 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $11,119,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its stake in shares of Gartner by 11.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 55,390 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $24,312,000 after purchasing an additional 5,582 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Gartner in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,522,000. Finally, PFG Advisors grew its stake in Gartner by 38.5% in the 1st quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 5,052 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $2,121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404 shares during the period. 91.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on IT. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Gartner from $622.00 to $535.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Gartner from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Gartner from $500.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $507.56.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP John J. Rinello sold 109 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.35, for a total value of $47,562.15. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 3,280 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,431,228. This represents a 3.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 7,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,577,001.85. This represents a 6.33% 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 three months. Insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

Gartner Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of IT traded up $0.69 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $356.83. The company had a trading volume of 753,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 867,332. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. Gartner, Inc. has a 52 week low of $352.29 and a 52 week high of $584.01. The company's 50 day moving average price is $403.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $443.10. The stock has a market cap of $27.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.20, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.19.

Gartner (NYSE:IT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The information technology services provider reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.72 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. Gartner had a net margin of 19.82% and a return on equity of 96.70%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Gartner, Inc. will post 12.5 EPS 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.