Gotham Asset Management LLC Sells 271 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Gotham Asset Management LLC reduced its position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,829 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 271 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Badger Meter by 162.5% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 147 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 2,457.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 179 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Shares of BMI stock opened at $245.05 on Monday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.17 and a fifty-two week high of $249.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a PE ratio of 57.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $203.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.88.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.22. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 15.12%. The firm had revenue of $222.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.39 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.96%.

Insider Activity at Badger Meter

In related news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total transaction of $31,395.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,980,638.63. This trade represents a 1.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 owns 5,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,064,640.24. This represents a 18.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter 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.