Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Shares Sold by TAP Consulting LLC

TAP Consulting LLC reduced its stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 14,898 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 761 shares during the quarter. TAP Consulting LLC’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $3,160,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Badger Meter by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 350,378 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $74,322,000 after acquiring an additional 12,180 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter worth about $385,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 68.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 33,395 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $7,083,000 after acquiring an additional 13,526 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Badger Meter by 29.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 11,971 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,615,000 after acquiring an additional 2,692 shares during the period. Finally, Fortress Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Badger Meter in the 4th quarter worth about $369,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Maxim Group boosted their price objective on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $218.75.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Shares of BMI stock opened at $202.04 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $211.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $213.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.76, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. Badger Meter, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $151.18 and a fifty-two week high of $239.11.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.77%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Badger Meter

In other news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 2,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.33, for a total transaction of $508,157.28. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,986,475.67. The trade was a 14.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 1,165 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total transaction of $247,131.45. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,620 shares in the company, valued at $11,162,280.60. This trade represents a 2.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407 in the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is 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.