Raymond James & Associates Sells 1,040 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Raymond James & Associates decreased its position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,858 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 1,040 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Badger Meter were worth $1,522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legato Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 3,358 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $518,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC increased its holdings in Badger Meter by 2,392.9% during the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 698 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 670 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Badger Meter by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,603 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth $185,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Badger Meter by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,614,269 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $519,985,000 after acquiring an additional 27,763 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on BMI. Northcoast Research raised Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $147.50.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMI opened at $178.51 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $156.77 and its 200 day moving average is $150.37. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1 year low of $119.02 and a 1 year high of $179.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.86.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $196.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.25 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 13.16% and a return on equity of 19.07%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.39%.

Insider Activity at Badger Meter

In other Badger Meter news, VP Fred J. Begale sold 1,203 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.92, for a total transaction of $195,992.76. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $355,328.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Fred J. Begale sold 1,203 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.92, for a total value of $195,992.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,181 shares in the company, valued at $355,328.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 194 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.55, for a total value of $30,952.70. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,181,367.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,813 shares of company stock valued at $448,167 in the last ninety days. 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.