Wealthfront Advisers LLC Makes New Investment in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 9,526 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,021,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its position in shares of 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 period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of 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 period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in shares of 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 period. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in shares of 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 period. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 5,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,064,640.24. This represents a 18.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 16,073 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total value of $3,371,151.02. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,949 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,407. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Badger Meter Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE BMI opened at $198.09 on Friday. The company has a market cap 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 12 month low of $151.16 and a 12 month high of $239.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $211.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $213.80.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price 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. Maxim Group boosted their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $218.75.

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.