Polen Focus Growth Strategy Exited its Position in Gartner (IT) in Q3

Core Insights - Polen Capital's "Polen Focus Growth Strategy" reported a 3.34% gross return and 3.14% net return in Q3 2025, underperforming the Russell 1000 Growth Index (10.51%) and the S&P 500 Index (8.12%) [1] Company Analysis - Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) was highlighted in the investor letter, with a one-month return of -2.20% and a 52-week loss of 53.71%, closing at $245.36 per share with a market capitalization of $18.583 billion on October 13, 2025 [2] - Polen Capital exited its position in Gartner, Inc. after over 12 years, achieving a 17.5% annualized return with earnings and share price growing about 7.5 times, driven by a subscription-based research business [3] - Despite management's target of 10% revenue growth, Gartner's actual growth has slowed to mid-to-high single digits, leading to concerns about its ability to generate sufficient EPS growth for attractive returns [3] Market Sentiment - Gartner, Inc. is not among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds, with 45 hedge fund portfolios holding the stock at the end of Q2 2025, down from 51 in the previous quarter [4] - There is a belief that certain AI stocks present greater upside potential and carry less downside risk compared to Gartner, Inc. [4]