Bank of America Corp DE Decreases Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Bank of America Corp DE trimmed its holdings in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 119,963 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 7,158 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.41% of Badger Meter worth $25,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Badger Meter in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Badger Meter during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in 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 worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Badger Meter

In other Badger Meter news, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 owns 5,076 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,064,640.24. The trade was a 18.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total value of $31,395.24. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,980,638.63. This trade represents a 1.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 20,949 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,407. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Badger Meter Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE BMI traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $243.71. 158,113 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 207,870. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.61, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $208.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $213.09. Badger Meter, Inc. has a twelve month low of $162.17 and a twelve month high of $249.65.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $222.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $220.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Badger Meter's payout ratio is presently 29.96%.

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.