Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Purchases 901 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,609 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 901 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $2,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 44,839 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 363,164 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $77,034,000 after acquiring an additional 68,137 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 350,378 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $74,322,000 after acquiring an additional 12,180 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 335,105 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $71,083,000 after purchasing an additional 23,606 shares during the period. Finally, Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Badger Meter by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. now owns 222,420 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $47,180,000 after purchasing an additional 10,890 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on BMI. Maxim Group raised their target price on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $218.75.

Badger Meter Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Badger Meter stock opened at $195.97 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $209.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $213.80. 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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.77%. On average, analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.15%.

Insider Transactions at Badger Meter

In related news, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $1,064,640.24. This trade represents a 18.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 16,073 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 34,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,332,720.14. This trade represents a 31.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.