D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Has $3.87 Million Position in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) by 48.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,662 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 33,062 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Itron were worth $3,872,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Itron by 78.3% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,083 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $660,000 after buying an additional 2,671 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Itron by 112.7% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,363 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $4,491,000 after purchasing an additional 21,919 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Itron by 180.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 333,363 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $36,197,000 after purchasing an additional 214,600 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Itron during the 4th quarter worth approximately $301,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Itron by 143.2% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,355 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $799,000 after purchasing an additional 4,331 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ITRI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Itron from $124.00 to $121.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Itron from $130.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com lowered Itron from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 1st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $133.00 price target on shares of Itron in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Itron from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Three 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $127.36.

Insider Activity at Itron

In related news, CAO David Marshall Wright sold 317 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.90, for a total value of $29,449.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,108 shares in the company, valued at $753,233.20. This trade represents a 3.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary C. Hemmingsen sold 5,150 shares of Itron stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.70, for a total transaction of $559,805.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $103,482.40. This represents a 84.40% 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 in the last 90 days. 1.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Itron Trading Up 0.5%

ITRI opened at $114.82 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.53, a PEG 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $105.28 and its 200-day moving average is $107.94. Itron, Inc. has a 1-year low of $90.11 and a 1-year high of $124.90.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $607.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $608.86 million. Itron had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Itron, Inc. will post 5.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Itron Company 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.