Lake Street Advisors Group LLC Invests $304,000 in Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT)

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 637 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $304,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of IT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Gartner during the fourth quarter worth $388,781,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Gartner by 830.4% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 514,230 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $231,974,000 after acquiring an additional 458,963 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Gartner by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,852,820 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $835,826,000 after acquiring an additional 198,274 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Gartner by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 920,716 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $415,344,000 after acquiring an additional 143,556 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Gartner by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 629,969 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $284,185,000 after acquiring an additional 131,222 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Gartner Stock Performance

IT stock traded up $7.70 during trading on Thursday, reaching $465.12. 74,760 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 399,203. Gartner, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.61 and a twelve month high of $486.54. The company has a market capitalization of $36.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $445.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $453.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.40. Gartner had a return on equity of 141.55% and a net margin of 13.35%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Gartner, Inc. will post 11.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on IT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Gartner in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $507.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group cut their target price on Gartner from $550.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Gartner from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Gartner from $450.00 to $432.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Gartner from $536.00 to $517.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $478.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James C. Smith sold 10,000 shares of Gartner stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $439.29, for a total transaction of $4,392,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 599,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $263,167,217.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Gartner news, Director James C. Smith sold 10,000 shares of Gartner stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $439.29, for a total transaction of $4,392,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 599,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $263,167,217.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Alwyn Dawkins sold 600 shares of Gartner stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.63, for a total value of $268,578.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 51,583 shares in the company, valued at $23,090,098.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,544 shares of company stock valued at $10,079,813 over the last three months. 3.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Gartner

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.