Trexquant Investment LP Trims Stake in Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN)

Trexquant Investment LP lessened its holdings in Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN - Free Report) by 45.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 38,076 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 31,879 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned 0.19% of Ituran Location and Control worth $1,186,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Ituran Location and Control by 58.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 39,464 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 14,527 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ituran Location and Control during the third quarter worth about $767,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Ituran Location and Control in the 4th quarter valued at about $835,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 214.2% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,011 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $160,000 after buying an additional 4,098 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 132.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,731 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 4,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Ituran Location and Control Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ITRN traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $33.38. 15,159 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 96,705. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.20. The company has a market cap of $664.04 million, a PE ratio of 12.76 and a beta of 0.90. Ituran Location and Control Ltd. has a twelve month low of $24.12 and a twelve month high of $45.43.

Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. Ituran Location and Control had a return on equity of 28.31% and a net margin of 15.65%. The business had revenue of $82.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.81 million.

Ituran Location and Control Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. This is a boost from Ituran Location and Control's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.99%. Ituran Location and Control's dividend payout ratio is presently 73.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Barclays upped their target price on Ituran Location and Control from $35.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th.

Ituran Location and Control Profile

Ituran Location and Control Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides location based telematics services and machine-to-machine telematics products. It operates through two segments, Telematics Services and Telematics Products. The Telematics services segment offers stolen vehicle recovery and tracking services, which enables to locate, track, and recover stolen vehicles for its subscribers; fleet management services that enable corporate and individual customers to track and manage their vehicles in real time; and locator services that allow customers to protect valuable merchandise and equipment.