Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Shares Sold by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) by 10.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 60,289 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 6,978 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned 0.20% of Badger Meter worth $11,470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BMI. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Badger Meter by 1.2% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Badger Meter by 2.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Badger Meter by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 500,946 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $106,261,000 after purchasing an additional 7,719 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at about $94,547,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 4.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 17,060 shares during the period. 89.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on BMI shares. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $218.00 to $216.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $233.00 target price on shares of Badger Meter and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Argus set a $240.00 price target on shares of Badger Meter in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $237.20.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMI traded up $1.15 on Monday, reaching $245.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 268,022 shares, compared to its average volume of 214,947. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52-week low of $162.17 and a 52-week high of $256.08. The company has a market cap of $7.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.08, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $244.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $219.68.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.22. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.74% and a return on equity of 22.35%. The firm had revenue of $222.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. Badger Meter's dividend 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.