Wealthfront Advisers LLC Buys New Position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 9,526 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,021,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 363,164 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $77,034,000 after acquiring an additional 68,137 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 3.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 335,105 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $71,083,000 after acquiring an additional 23,606 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 212,024 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $44,975,000 after acquiring an additional 4,631 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 195,423 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $41,931,000 after acquiring an additional 16,067 shares during the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on BMI. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Maxim Group increased 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $218.75.

Insider Transactions at Badger Meter

In other news, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 16,073 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 transaction of $3,371,151.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,332,720.14. This represents a 31.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,076 shares in the company, valued at $1,064,640.24. The trade was a 18.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,949 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,407 over the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Badger Meter stock opened at $198.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.83, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52-week low of $151.16 and a 52-week high of $239.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $211.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $213.80.

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

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 32.15%.

Badger Meter Company 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.