Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 12,643 Shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,655,428 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 12,643 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 12.41% of Itron worth $427,041,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Itron by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 31,458 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,375,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Itron by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 41,337 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,504,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Itron in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Itron by 9,150.0% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 555 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Itron by 89.3% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,344 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 634 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ITRI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Itron from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Itron from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Itron from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Itron from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Itron from $77.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Itron presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.64.

Insider Activity at Itron

In related news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 873 shares of Itron stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.87, for a total transaction of $95,043.51. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 206,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,444,965.81. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Itron news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 873 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.87, for a total value of $95,043.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 206,163 shares in the company, valued at $22,444,965.81. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Christopher E. Ware sold 311 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.84, for a total transaction of $33,227.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,642,237.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,775 shares of company stock valued at $192,613 over the last ninety days. 1.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Itron Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ITRI opened at $97.86 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a PE ratio of 28.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.47. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $103.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.79. Itron, Inc. has a one year low of $56.11 and a one year high of $111.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $603.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $579.49 million. Itron had a net margin of 7.03% and a return on equity of 14.51%. Itron’s revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Itron, Inc. will post 4 EPS for the current year.

About Itron

Itron, Inc, a technology, solutions, and service company, provides end-to-end solutions that help manage energy, water, and smart city operations worldwide. It operates in three segments: Device Solutions, Networked Solutions, and Outcomes. The Device Solutions segment offers hardware products that are used for measurement, control, or sensing, such as standard gas, electricity, water, and communicating meters, as well as heat and allocation products.