Franklin Resources Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 857,639 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after buying an additional 56,050 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 1.11% of Gartner worth $415,500,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gartner during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in Gartner by 2,350.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 98 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Gartner during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in Gartner in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in Gartner by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 276 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Gartner from $565.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Gartner from $605.00 to $557.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Gartner in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered 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. 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. According to MarketBeat, Gartner currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $536.63.

Insider Transactions at Gartner

In other news, Director Eileen Serra sold 1,200 shares of Gartner stock in a transaction 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 owns 1,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $796,855.79. The trade was a 42.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP John J. Rinello sold 90 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.51, for a total value of $47,745.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,259 shares in the company, valued at $1,728,932.09. This trade represents a 2.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Gartner Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of IT opened at $420.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Gartner, Inc. has a 1-year low of $409.50 and a 1-year high of $584.01. The stock has a market cap of $32.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $492.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $505.01.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information technology services provider reported $5.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.04 earnings per share. Gartner’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Gartner, Inc. will post 12.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.