ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 177 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

ProShare Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 80,399 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 177 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $17,054,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Badger Meter by 3.6% during the 4th 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 during the period. Burney Co. bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at $385,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position 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 valued at $7,083,000 after acquiring an additional 13,526 shares during the period. Fortress Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at $369,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in shares of Badger Meter by 74.4% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 5,945 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,536 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BMI. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $209.00 to $196.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Argus set a $240.00 target price on shares of Badger Meter in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $218.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $238.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Maxim Group lifted their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 2,416 shares of the company’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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,986,475.67. This represents a 14.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $240,571.78. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,076 shares in the company, valued at $1,064,640.24. This represents a 18.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Badger Meter Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of BMI stock opened at $245.05 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.93, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52 week low of $162.17 and a 52 week high of $249.65. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $203.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.75.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 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 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 earned $0.99 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders 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 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is 29.96%.

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.