Hsbc Holdings PLC Has $920,000 Stock Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Hsbc Holdings PLC lowered its position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) by 70.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,308 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 10,085 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC's holdings in Badger Meter were worth $920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BMI. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 162.5% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 147 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 2,457.1% in the 4th 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on BMI. Argus set a $240.00 price target on Badger Meter in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $209.00 to $196.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $229.80.

Badger Meter Price Performance

NYSE:BMI opened at $230.03 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $6.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.84. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $198.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $209.62. Badger Meter, Inc. has a one year low of $162.17 and a one 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.22. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.77%. The firm had revenue of $222.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $220.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Badger Meter's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Badger Meter

In related news, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 1,165 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total value of $247,131.45. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,162,280.60. This represents a 2.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total transaction of $31,395.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,051 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,980,638.63. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,949 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,407 in the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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