Ameriprise Financial Inc. Cuts Stake in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI - Free Report) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 123,218 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 4,240 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.27% of Itron worth $13,379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. GeoWealth Management LLC increased its position in Itron by 4,580.0% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 234 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Itron in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Itron in the fourth quarter worth $67,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Itron by 347.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 886 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Itron by 43.1% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,820 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $198,000 after buying an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. 96.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Christopher E. Ware sold 648 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.90, for a total value of $60,199.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,326 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,888,285.40. This represents a 3.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO David Marshall Wright sold 317 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.90, for a total value of $29,449.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $753,233.20. The trade was a 3.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,187 shares of company stock valued at $945,620 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.45% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ITRI. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Itron from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $133.00 target price on shares of Itron in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Itron from $124.00 to $121.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Itron from $130.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Itron from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, March 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $127.36.

Itron Price Performance

Shares of ITRI traded up $0.94 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $114.93. 666,234 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 572,877. The stock has a market cap of $5.24 billion, a PE ratio of 23.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 3.36, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $105.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.01. Itron, Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.11 and a 12 month high of $124.90.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.22. Itron had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 9.37%. The firm had revenue of $607.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $608.86 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Itron, Inc. will post 5.33 EPS for the current year.

Itron Profile

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.