Hartford Investment Management Co. Cuts Holdings in Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT)

Hartford Investment Management Co. lowered its position in Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,765 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 92 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Gartner were worth $2,308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Gartner by 1.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 36,258 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gartner by 1.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Gartner by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,001,142 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,014,099,000 after purchasing an additional 103,814 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Gartner by 7.3% during the third 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. boosted its position in shares of Gartner by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 801,589 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $422,678,000 after acquiring an additional 25,315 shares during the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on IT. Barclays upgraded Gartner from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $525.00 to $600.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Gartner from $529.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Gartner from $470.00 to $460.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Gartner from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Gartner from $564.00 to $555.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $552.63.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director James C. Smith sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.02, for a total transaction of $2,620,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 509,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $266,965,657.14. The trade was a 0.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claire Herkes sold 411 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.24, for a total value of $214,229.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $778,732.56. This represents a 21.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,690 shares of company stock worth $2,981,025. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Gartner Price Performance

Gartner stock opened at $517.03 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31. Gartner, Inc. has a 52-week low of $411.15 and a 52-week high of $584.01. The firm has a market cap of $39.88 billion, a PE ratio of 32.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 1.34. The company’s 50 day moving average is $510.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $507.95.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last announced 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. Gartner had a return on equity of 136.32% and a net margin of 20.00%. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Gartner, Inc. will post 12.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gartner Company 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.