Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Purchases 568 Shares of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its position in Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,127 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Gartner were worth $2,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baron Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Gartner by 4.1% in the third quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 481 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Gartner by 23.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 104 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its position in shares of Gartner by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 763 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Gartner by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 917 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $444,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wallace Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Gartner by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 980 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $440,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Gartner Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Gartner stock opened at $492.83 on Tuesday. Gartner, Inc. has a 52-week low of $411.15 and a 52-week high of $559.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $509.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $496.62. The firm has a market cap of $38.01 billion, a PE ratio of 36.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.33.

Gartner (NYSE:IT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The information technology services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by $0.05. Gartner had a net margin of 17.33% and a return on equity of 118.27%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Gartner, Inc. will post 11.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Claire Herkes sold 411 shares of Gartner stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.24, for a total value of $214,229.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $778,732.56. The trade was a 21.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP William James Wartinbee III sold 189 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $523.54, for a total value of $98,949.06. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,827,600.94. This trade represents a 2.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,583 shares of company stock valued at $19,241,974 in the last three months. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on IT shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Gartner from $560.00 to $564.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Gartner from $565.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays raised Gartner from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $525.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com raised Gartner from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Gartner from $529.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $551.88.

Gartner Company Profile

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.