Swiss National Bank Acquires 400 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,800 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 400 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.20% of Badger Meter worth $12,261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in Badger Meter by 2,457.1% in the fourth 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. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 261.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 597 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Price Performance

NYSE:BMI opened at $202.04 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $211.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $213.75. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1-year low of $151.18 and a 1-year high of $239.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.76, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,064,640.24. This trade represents a 18.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total value of $31,395.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,980,638.63. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,949 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,407 in the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Maxim Group raised their price objective on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock 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.com, Badger Meter has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.