Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Cuts Stake in Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its stake in Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,777,661 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 105,705 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Gartner were worth $1,345,693,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Gartner by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 452 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $219,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its holdings in Gartner by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,364 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $661,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its stake in Gartner by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 826 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gartner by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 737 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Gartner by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 917 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gartner Price Performance

Gartner stock opened at $413.19 on Wednesday. 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 has a market capitalization of $31.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $490.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $504.32. Gartner, Inc. has a 1 year low of $409.00 and a 1 year high of $584.01.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information technology services provider reported $5.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $2.23. Gartner had a return on equity of 116.56% and a net margin of 20.00%. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.04 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Gartner, Inc. will post 12.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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 dropped their price objective on shares of Gartner from $605.00 to $557.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Gartner from $564.00 to $555.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Gartner from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Gartner in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $536.63.

Insider Activity at Gartner

In other news, SVP John J. Rinello sold 90 shares of the company’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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Eileen Serra sold 1,200 shares of Gartner stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were 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 owns 1,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $796,855.79. This trade represents a 42.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.