Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Buys New Position in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 11,828 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $1,239,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ITRI. GeoWealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Itron by 4,580.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Itron during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its stake in Itron by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 616 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Itron by 347.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 886 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares during the period. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Itron by 98.0% in the 1st quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,711 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $179,000 after acquiring an additional 847 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.19% of the company's stock.

Itron Stock Down 0.8%

NASDAQ ITRI traded down $0.93 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $121.96. 558,059 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 583,405. The company has a market cap of $5.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.33. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.95. Itron, Inc. has a 1-year low of $90.11 and a 1-year high of $124.90.

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

Insider Transactions at Itron

In other news, Director Mary C. Hemmingsen sold 5,150 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.70, for a total value of $559,805.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 952 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $103,482.40. This represents a 84.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Justin K. Patrick sold 9,036 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.77, for a total value of $1,100,313.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,149 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,575,313.73. This trade represents a 29.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,905 shares of company stock worth $2,439,202. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ITRI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Itron from $124.00 to $121.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Itron from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Itron from $130.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $133.00 price objective on shares of Itron in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Itron from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $127.36.

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.