Baron Funds is Bullish Gartner (IT), Should You Be the Same?

Baron Funds, an asset management firm, published its “Baron Asset Fund” fourth quarter 2021 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. Against this backdrop, Baron Asset Fund (the “Fund”) gained 5.04% (Institutional Shares), while the Russell Midcap Growth Index (the “Index”) gained 2.85%, and the S&P 500 Index gained 11.03%. The Fund’s outperformance was attributable to favorable stock selection and tailwinds from certain style biases, notably its underexposure to the poor performing residual volatility and beta factors. Spare some time to check the fund’s top 5 holdings to have a clue about their top bets for 2022.

Baron Asset Fund, in its Q4 2021 investor letter, mentioned Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) and discussed its stance on the firm. Gartner, Inc. is a Stamford, Connecticut-based technology research and consulting company with a $23.5 billion market capitalization. IT delivered a -14.45% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are up by 78.30%. The stock closed at $286.01 per share on January 17, 2022.

Here is what Baron Asset Fund has to say about Gartner, Inc. in its Q4 2021 investor letter:

“Shares of Gartner, Inc., a provider of syndicated research, consulting services and industry conferences, contributed to performance after the company again reported financial results that exceeded Street estimates. Revenue growth in Gartner’s research business, its largest segment, reached double-digit levels after being depressed by pandemic-driven headwinds. Research growth was led by the company’s GBS segment, which continued to benefit from its multi-year investment cycle. We expect ongoing revenue growth and cost controls to drive margin expansion and enhanced free cash flow generation. Gartner’s balance sheet remains in excellent shape, allowing the company to aggressively repurchase its shares and to make accretive bolt-on acquisitions.”

Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash

Our calculations show that Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) failed to obtain a mark on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. IT was in 33 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2021, compared to 39 funds in the previous quarter. Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) delivered a -8.12% return in the past 3 months.

In December 2021, we also shared another hedge fund’s views on IT in another article. You can find other letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2021 Q4 page.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.