Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Purchases Shares of 90,845 Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 90,845 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $19,270,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.31% of Badger Meter as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMI. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,780 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,204 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,316,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors boosted its position in Badger Meter by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 1,271 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Badger Meter by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 8,536 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $1,811,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Badger Meter by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,221 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were 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 directly owns 5,076 shares in the company, valued at $1,064,640.24. This represents a 18.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 16,073 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total transaction of $3,371,151.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 34,961 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,332,720.14. This represents a 31.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BMI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Badger Meter from $218.00 to $216.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Badger Meter from $238.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Argus set a $240.00 price target on Badger Meter in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Maxim Group lifted their price objective on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, Badger Meter presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $229.80.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of BMI traded up $3.80 on Monday, hitting $252.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 328,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 209,126. The company has a market capitalization of $7.42 billion, a PE ratio of 59.58, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. Badger Meter, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.17 and a fifty-two week high of $253.06. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $215.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $214.10.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $222.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 company posted $0.99 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Badger Meter's payout ratio is 29.96%.

Badger Meter 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.