Barclays PLC Purchases 1,400 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Barclays PLC raised its position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI - Free Report) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 56,490 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.19% of Badger Meter worth $11,984,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BMI. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $74,322,000 after purchasing an additional 12,180 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. purchased a new position in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $385,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Badger Meter by 68.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 33,395 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $7,083,000 after purchasing 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, Perpetual Ltd purchased a new stake in Badger Meter in the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,462,000. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on BMI shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Badger Meter from $209.00 to $196.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Maxim Group raised 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. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $218.00 to $216.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $238.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Badger Meter has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $225.40.

Insider Activity

In other Badger Meter news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 2,416 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.33, for a total transaction of $508,157.28. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,199 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,986,475.67. This represents a 14.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 5,076 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,064,640.24. The trade was 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. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Badger Meter Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of BMI traded up $1.60 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $210.13. 489,120 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 203,183. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12 month low of $162.17 and a 12 month high of $239.11. The company's fifty day moving average price is $198.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $209.93. The company has a market capitalization of $6.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.84.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.22. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.77%. The company had revenue of $222.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $220.39 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.99 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Badger Meter's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.