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 Badger Meter stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 34,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,332,720.14. The trade was a 31.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

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 Price Performance

BMI stock opened at $212.68 on Friday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1-year low of $150.87 and a 1-year high of $239.11. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $213.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 earnings per share 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Badger Meter

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Badger Meter during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Badger Meter during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Badger Meter by 162.5% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 147 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in 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 valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Badger Meter during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on 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 boosted their price target 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $218.75.

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.