Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) Shares Bought by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI - Free Report) by 16.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 804,648 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after acquiring an additional 110,849 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned about 1.77% of Itron worth $60,759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Itron by 233.6% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 622,483 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $32,793,000 after buying an additional 435,870 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Itron in the 4th quarter valued at about $20,846,000. Amundi grew its position in shares of Itron by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,600,319 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $133,785,000 after acquiring an additional 401,394 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in shares of Itron during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $14,519,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Itron during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $13,588,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ITRI has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Itron from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Itron from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Itron from $77.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Itron from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $81.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Itron from a "c" rating to a "b-" rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.60.

Itron Trading Down 0.8 %

Itron stock traded down $0.76 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $91.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 392,451 shares, compared to its average volume of 393,969. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a PE ratio of 43.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.41. Itron, Inc. has a 1 year low of $50.60 and a 1 year high of $96.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock's fifty day moving average is $86.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.93.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $577.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $569.90 million. Itron had a return on equity of 12.27% and a net margin of 4.46%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 23.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Itron, Inc. will post 3.61 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Itron

In other news, Director Jerome J. Lande sold 14,896 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.25, for a total transaction of $1,418,844.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,750 shares in the company, valued at $547,687.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Donald L. Reeves III sold 383 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $28,866.71. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,708 shares in the company, valued at $656,321.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jerome J. Lande sold 14,896 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.25, for a total value of $1,418,844.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,750 shares in the company, valued at $547,687.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,467 shares of company stock worth $2,752,520 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.45% of the company's stock.

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.