IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Has $3.01 Million Position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 35.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,173 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 7,824 shares during the period. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $3,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BMI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Badger Meter by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 433,169 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $91,884,000 after acquiring an additional 17,060 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 10,609 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,250,000 after purchasing an additional 901 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its holdings in Badger Meter by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 10,441 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,712 shares in the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 29.8% in the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 60,903 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $12,919,000 after purchasing an additional 13,982 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,841,879 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $814,939,000 after purchasing an additional 44,839 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BMI. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Maxim Group upped their target price on shares of 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $218.75.

Insider Transactions at Badger Meter

In other news, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 1,165 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total transaction of $247,131.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 52,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,162,280.60. This represents a 2.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total value of $240,571.78. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,064,640.24. This trade represents a 18.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of Badger Meter stock opened at $192.37 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $209.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $213.65. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12 month low of $151.18 and a 12 month high of $239.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released 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%. Analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.15%.

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.