1,490 Shares in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Acquired by Millstone Evans Group LLC

Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,490 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $316,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BMI. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 35.0% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 8,033 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,754,000 after acquiring an additional 2,084 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 3.8% in the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 45,496 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $9,937,000 after acquiring an additional 1,669 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 29.4% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 41,102 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $8,977,000 after acquiring an additional 9,339 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 81.3% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 10,041 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,193,000 after acquiring an additional 4,504 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Badger Meter by 6.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 338,198 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $73,866,000 after purchasing an additional 19,848 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 2,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.33, for a total transaction of $508,157.28. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,986,475.67. This represents a 14.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 16,073 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 34,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,332,720.14. This trade represents a 31.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407 over the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BMI shares. Maxim Group lifted their target price on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Badger Meter has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $218.75.

Badger Meter Stock Down 3.7 %

NYSE BMI opened at $189.36 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52 week low of $151.18 and a 52 week high of $239.11. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $210.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.51.

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

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Badger Meter’s dividend 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.