Jane Street Group LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Jane Street Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) by 75.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,684 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 26,583 shares during the quarter. Jane Street Group LLC's holdings in Badger Meter were worth $1,842,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BMI. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 162.5% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 147 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 2,457.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 179 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 16,073 shares of the company's 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 34,961 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,332,720.14. This represents a 31.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total value of $240,571.78. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,076 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,064,640.24. The trade was a 18.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Badger Meter Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:BMI traded up $0.04 on Friday, hitting $243.71. 158,113 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 207,542. The stock has a market cap of $7.18 billion, a PE ratio of 57.61, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $208.64 and a 200-day moving average of $213.16. Badger Meter, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.17 and a fifty-two week high of $249.65.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $222.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.39 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 15.12%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, 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 will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Badger Meter's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on BMI. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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. Argus set a $240.00 target price on Badger Meter in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Maxim Group upped their target price on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird dropped 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, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Badger Meter from $238.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Three equities 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 currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $229.80.

About Badger Meter

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.