Russell Investments Group Ltd. Acquires 52,218 Shares of Gartner, Inc. $IT

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. has increased its stake in Gartner, Inc. by 105% during Q1, owning a total of 101,946 shares worth approximately $42.77 million.
• Gartner recently reported earnings per share of $3.53, exceeding the consensus estimate of $3.38, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 5.7%.
• Several investment firms have downgraded their price targets for Gartner, with Wells Fargo setting a new target at $225, indicating a bearish outlook.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT - Free Report) by 105.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 101,946 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 52,218 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.13% of Gartner worth $42,773,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gartner in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Gartner by 453.3% in the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 83 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Gartner during the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gartner by 210.8% during the 1st 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 1st quarter worth about $55,000. 91.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on IT. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Gartner from $345.00 to $225.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays cut 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 from $480.00) on shares of Gartner in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. 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 report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Gartner from $409.00 to $272.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Gartner currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $369.25.

Gartner Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of IT traded up $0.50 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $239.19. 1,133,176 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 802,480. Gartner, Inc. has a 52 week low of $223.65 and a 52 week high of $584.01. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $356.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $417.02. The company has a market cap of $18.41 billion, a PE ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 1.19.

Gartner (NYSE:IT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 19.71% and a return on equity of 82.63%. Gartner's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.22 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Gartner, Inc. will post 12.5 earnings per share 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.