First Trust Advisors LP Grows Stock Position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 315,375 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after buying an additional 1,285 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 1.07% of Badger Meter worth $66,897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Badger Meter by 1.2% in 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 buying an additional 44,839 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 2.3% in the fourth 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 during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 1.6% in the fourth 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 during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter worth approximately $94,547,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Badger Meter by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 433,169 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $91,884,000 after purchasing an additional 17,060 shares during the period. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Transactions at Badger Meter

In other news, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 16,073 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total transaction of $3,371,151.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,961 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,332,720.14. The trade was 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 through this hyperlink. Also, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total value of $240,571.78. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,064,640.24. The trade was a 18.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407. Insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Badger Meter Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Badger Meter stock traded down $1.17 on Monday, reaching $215.20. The stock had a trading volume of 38,364 shares, compared to its average volume of 202,700. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $197.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $209.56. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1 year low of $162.17 and a 1 year high of $239.11.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $222.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.39 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.77%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Badger Meter's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.96%.

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.