Kenneth Bockhorst Sells 16,073 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Stock

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 16,073 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Kenneth Bockhorst also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 3rd, Kenneth Bockhorst sold 1,165 shares of Badger Meter stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total value of $247,131.45.

Badger Meter Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE BMI opened at $212.68 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $213.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.96. Badger Meter, Inc. has a twelve month low of $150.87 and a twelve month high of $239.11.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 EPS 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%. Research analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.15%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Badger Meter

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BMI. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter worth about $94,547,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 5,897.0% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 235,322 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $49,917,000 after buying an additional 231,398 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 184.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 256,217 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $54,350,000 after buying an additional 166,191 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter worth about $20,586,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 111.1% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 182,382 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $38,687,000 after buying an additional 95,966 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BMI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Maxim Group upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $218.75.

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.