Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Invests $202,000 in Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 448 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Gartner by 4.6% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,157,075 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $741,193,000 after acquiring an additional 95,040 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Gartner by 30.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,565,046 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $537,766,000 after purchasing an additional 364,128 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Gartner by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,156,088 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $397,243,000 after buying an additional 141,219 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Gartner by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 740,957 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $254,600,000 after buying an additional 46,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Gartner by 26.3% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 629,969 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $284,185,000 after buying an additional 131,222 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gartner

In related news, EVP Claire Herkes sold 1,460 shares of Gartner stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.76, for a total value of $694,609.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,842 shares in the company, valued at $1,352,109.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director James C. Smith sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $470.09, for a total value of $2,350,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 618,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $290,626,091.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Claire Herkes sold 1,460 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.76, for a total value of $694,609.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,842 shares in the company, valued at $1,352,109.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,952 shares of company stock valued at $10,598,070 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Gartner Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Gartner stock opened at $450.25 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $464.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $436.38. Gartner, Inc. has a 52-week low of $292.60 and a 52-week high of $486.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.71, a P/E/G ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 1.29.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The information technology services provider reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. Gartner had a net margin of 14.94% and a return on equity of 156.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.70 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Gartner, Inc. will post 11.36 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on IT shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Gartner from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Gartner in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $507.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group upgraded Gartner from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $484.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Gartner from $444.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Gartner from $421.00 to $446.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gartner presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $477.60.

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.