HighTower Advisors LLC Increases Position in Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) by 10.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,313 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,805 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Gartner were worth $14,686,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in IT. State Street Corp grew its stake in Gartner by 1.1% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Gartner by 1.9% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Gartner by 0.6% during the 4th 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 last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Gartner by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,036,530 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $525,272,000 after buying an additional 70,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Gartner by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 801,589 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $422,678,000 after buying an additional 25,315 shares during 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.51, for a total value of $47,745.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,728,932.09. This represents a 2.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Eileen Serra sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.77, for a total value of $587,724.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $796,855.79. The trade was a 42.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Gartner Stock Performance

Shares of IT stock opened at $457.45 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $35.14 billion, a PE ratio of 28.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $507.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $509.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Gartner, Inc. has a 52-week low of $411.15 and a 52-week high of $584.01.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information technology services provider reported $5.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $2.23. The business 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.04 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Gartner, Inc. will post 12.5 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on IT shares. StockNews.com upgraded Gartner from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Gartner from $470.00 to $460.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Gartner from $579.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Gartner in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Gartner from $564.00 to $555.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $552.63.

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.