IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Sells 7,824 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd lessened its holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 35.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its position in Badger Meter by 35.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 8,033 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,754,000 after purchasing an additional 2,084 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 6.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 338,198 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $73,866,000 after buying an additional 19,848 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 67.0% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 37,976 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $8,294,000 after buying an additional 15,240 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 8.5% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,544 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,866,000 after buying an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 661.0% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,347 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $294,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BMI shares. Maxim Group upped 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report 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.com, Badger Meter presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $218.75.

Insider Transactions at Badger Meter

In other Badger Meter news, 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 transaction of $3,371,151.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 34,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,332,720.14. This represents a 31.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total value of $31,395.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,980,638.63. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407 over the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Badger Meter Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of BMI opened at $192.37 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $209.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $213.65. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12 month low of $151.18 and a 12 month high of $239.11. The company has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a PE ratio of 45.48, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.34 dividend. 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%.

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.