Corient Private Wealth LLC Reduces Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Corient Private Wealth LLC lowered its position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,985 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 705 shares during the quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $1,906,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMI. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Badger Meter by 2,457.1% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 179 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 261.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped 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 increased their target price on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $218.75.

Badger Meter Price Performance

NYSE:BMI opened at $194.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $210.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $213.77. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12-month low of $151.18 and a 12-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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.77%. Research analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal 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 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is currently 32.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Badger Meter news, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 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 $240,571.78. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,064,640.24. The trade was a 18.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 2,416 shares of the 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.