Aquatic Capital Management LLC Has $214,000 Stock Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Aquatic Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) by 61.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,008 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 1,592 shares during the period. Aquatic Capital Management LLC's holdings in Badger Meter were worth $214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BMI. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 162.5% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 147 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 2,457.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 179 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Badger Meter news, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 16,073 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,332,720.14. The trade was a 31.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total value of $31,395.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,051 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders have sold a total of 20,949 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,407 over the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Badger Meter Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:BMI traded up $1.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $230.29. 33,717 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 202,624. Badger Meter, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.17 and a fifty-two week high of $239.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.44, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $200.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $210.15.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $222.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.39 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.77%. During the same quarter 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 year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Badger Meter's payout ratio is 29.96%.

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.