Virtu Financial LLC Takes $1.22 Million Position in Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,400 shares of the information technology services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,216,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in IT. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Gartner during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Gartner during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Gartner by 223.3% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 97 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in Gartner by 2,350.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 98 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in Gartner by 23.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 104 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.51% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on IT. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Gartner from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Gartner from $529.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Gartner from $565.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Gartner from $560.00 to $564.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Gartner from $470.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Gartner presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $543.75.

Insider Activity at Gartner

In other Gartner news, EVP William James Wartinbee III sold 189 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $523.54, for a total value of $98,949.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,311 shares in the company, valued at $3,827,600.94. This represents a 2.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James C. Smith sold 17,533 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.09, for a total transaction of $9,592,128.97. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 532,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $291,212,724.46. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,583 shares of company stock worth $19,241,974. 3.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Gartner Stock Performance

Gartner stock traded down $5.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $508.46. 239,125 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 373,520. Gartner, Inc. has a 12-month low of $411.15 and a 12-month high of $559.00. The business's 50-day moving average is $522.13 and its 200-day moving average is $488.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.22 billion, a PE ratio of 37.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.31.

Gartner (NYSE:IT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The information technology services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.45 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.48 billion. Gartner had a net margin of 17.33% and a return on equity of 118.27%. The firm's revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Gartner, Inc. will post 11.89 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.