Madison Investment Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 505,292 Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 505,292 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $244,799,000. Gartner makes up approximately 2.8% of Madison Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Madison Investment Advisors LLC owned about 0.66% of Gartner as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Gartner during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gartner in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Gartner in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gartner by 2,350.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 98 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gartner in the 4th quarter valued at $57,000. 91.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Gartner from $564.00 to $555.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Gartner in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Gartner from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Gartner from $579.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Gartner from $470.00 to $460.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $552.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gartner

In other news, SVP John J. Rinello sold 90 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.51, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 2.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Eileen Serra sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 1,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $796,855.79. This represents a 42.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Gartner Trading Down 1.5 %

IT stock opened at $459.29 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $509.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $510.21. Gartner, Inc. has a 52 week low of $411.15 and a 52 week high of $584.01. The company has a market capitalization of $35.28 billion, a PE ratio of 28.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.29.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $2.23. Gartner had a net margin of 20.00% and a return on equity of 116.56%. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.04 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Gartner, Inc. will post 12.5 earnings per share for the current 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.