Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Shares Sold by Gabelli Funds LLC

Gabelli Funds LLC trimmed its position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 103,800 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $22,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BMI. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Badger Meter by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 56,490 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $11,984,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Seeds Investor LLC lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Seeds Investor LLC now owns 1,019 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 101.9% in the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 31,624 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $6,708,000 after purchasing an additional 15,960 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 162.5% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 147 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,586,000. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Badger Meter

In other news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 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 $31,395.24. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,980,638.63. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,064,640.24. This trade represents a 18.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on Badger Meter in a report on Thursday, March 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $251.00 target price for the company. Finally, Maxim Group upped their price target on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $225.20.

Badger Meter Trading Up 1.4 %

Badger Meter stock opened at $185.82 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $199.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $210.64. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12-month low of $151.50 and a 12-month 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 15.12%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is currently 32.15%.

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.