Kentucky Retirement Systems Lowers Position in Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT)

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its stake in Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,295 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 73 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Gartner were worth $2,565,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in Gartner by 1.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,257,355 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,650,697,000 after buying an additional 36,258 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Gartner by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,018,358 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,020,378,000 after buying an additional 36,698 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Gartner by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,012,799 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $975,141,000 after buying an additional 11,657 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Gartner by 7.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,036,530 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $525,272,000 after purchasing an additional 70,236 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gartner by 3.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 801,589 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $422,678,000 after purchasing an additional 25,315 shares in the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP John J. Rinello sold 90 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.51, for a total transaction of $47,745.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,259 shares in the company, valued at $1,728,932.09. This trade represents a 2.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James C. Smith sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.02, for a total value of $2,620,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 509,457 shares in the company, valued at $266,965,657.14. This trade represents a 0.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,690 shares of company stock worth $2,981,025. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on IT. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Gartner in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Gartner from $470.00 to $460.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays upgraded Gartner from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $525.00 to $600.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Gartner from $529.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Gartner from $564.00 to $555.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Gartner currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $552.63.

Gartner Stock Performance

Gartner stock opened at $487.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $37.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $509.42 and a 200-day moving average of $509.30. Gartner, Inc. has a 52 week low of $411.15 and a 52 week high of $584.01.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information technology services provider reported $5.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $2.23. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.69 billion. Gartner had a return on equity of 116.56% and a net margin of 20.00%. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.04 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Gartner, Inc. will post 12.5 EPS 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.