Voleon Capital Management LP Purchases Shares of 1,577 Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,577 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $335,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Badger Meter by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,841,879 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $814,939,000 after purchasing an additional 44,839 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 796,528 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $169,448,000 after purchasing an additional 17,873 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Badger Meter by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 500,946 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $106,261,000 after buying an additional 7,719 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at $94,547,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Badger Meter by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 433,169 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $91,884,000 after purchasing an additional 17,060 shares during the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BMI shares. Maxim Group increased their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $209.00 to $196.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $218.00 to $216.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $238.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Argus set a $240.00 price target on Badger Meter in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $229.80.

Badger Meter Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Badger Meter stock traded up $1.91 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $226.21. 29,151 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 203,534. The company has a 50 day moving average of $199.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $209.87. The stock has a market cap of $6.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. Badger Meter, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.17 and a fifty-two week high of $239.11.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $222.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $220.39 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.77%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Badger Meter's payout ratio is currently 29.96%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total transaction of $240,571.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,076 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,064,640.24. This represents a 18.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total transaction of $31,395.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,051 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,980,638.63. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 20,949 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,407. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

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.