Vanguard Group Inc. Has $814.94 Million Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,841,879 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 44,839 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 13.06% of Badger Meter worth $814,939,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BMI. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 350,378 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $74,322,000 after purchasing an additional 12,180 shares during the period. Burney Co. bought a new position in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth $385,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Badger Meter by 68.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 33,395 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $7,083,000 after acquiring an additional 13,526 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in Badger Meter by 29.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 11,971 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,615,000 after acquiring an additional 2,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortress Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at $369,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on BMI. Maxim Group boosted their price target on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a report on Thursday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $251.00 price target for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Badger Meter currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $225.20.

Insider Activity at Badger Meter

In other Badger Meter news, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 16,073 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total value of $3,371,151.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,332,720.14. This trade represents a 31.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total value of $31,395.24. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,980,638.63. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,949 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,407 in the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Badger Meter Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE BMI opened at $189.86 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.88, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12 month low of $151.18 and a 12 month high of $239.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $208.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $213.62.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.77%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 32.15%.

Badger Meter Company Profile

Badger Meter, Inc manufactures and markets flow measurement, quality, control, and communication solutions worldwide. It offers mechanical or static water meters, and related radio and software technologies and services to municipal water utilities market. The company also provides flow instrumentation products, including meters, valves, and other sensing instruments to measure and control fluids going through a pipe or pipeline, including water, air, steam, and other liquids and gases to original equipment manufacturers as the primary flow measurement device within a product or system, as well as through manufacturers' representatives.