Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Shares Bought by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) by 184.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 256,217 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after acquiring an additional 166,191 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.87% of Badger Meter worth $54,350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 350,378 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $74,322,000 after purchasing an additional 12,180 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. purchased a new position in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at $385,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Badger Meter by 68.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 33,395 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $7,083,000 after buying an additional 13,526 shares in the last quarter. Fortress Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth about $369,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 74.4% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 5,945 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,536 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of BMI traded up $5.81 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $230.03. 271,314 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 203,945. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $198.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $209.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.78 billion, a PE ratio of 54.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.84. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52-week low of $162.17 and a 52-week high of $239.11.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.22. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 15.12%. The company had revenue of $222.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $220.39 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current 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 issued 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 29.96%.

Insider Activity at Badger Meter

In related news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total value of $31,395.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,051 shares in the company, valued at $2,980,638.63. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 16,073 shares of the business's 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,961 shares in the company, 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 have sold a total of 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407 over the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.