Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Lowers Holdings in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. cut its holdings in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 20.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,175 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 550 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Xylem were worth $252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swedbank AB boosted its position in Xylem by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,683,201 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $427,325,000 after acquiring an additional 691,618 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Xylem in the 3rd quarter worth $68,593,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in Xylem in the third quarter valued at approximately $52,169,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Xylem by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,657,785 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $223,851,000 after acquiring an additional 249,975 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in Xylem by 1.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,329,494 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,394,792,000 after purchasing an additional 189,820 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on XYL. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Xylem from $138.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup cut shares of Xylem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Xylem from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Xylem from $163.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Xylem from $166.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Xylem has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.90.

Xylem Stock Down 0.2 %

XYL stock opened at $131.11 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $31.85 billion, a PE ratio of 35.82, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.07. Xylem Inc. has a one year low of $113.26 and a one year high of $146.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $120.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $127.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.76.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.06. Xylem had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 9.96%. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Xylem Inc. will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Xylem Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. This is an increase from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Xylem’s dividend payout ratio is 39.34%.

Xylem Profile

Xylem Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and servicing of engineered products and solutions worldwide. It operates through four segments: Water Infrastructure, Applied Water, Measurement & Control Solutions, and Integrated Solutions and Services. The Water Infrastructure segment offers products, including water, storm water, and wastewater pumps; controls and systems; filtration, disinfection, and biological treatment equipment; and mobile dewatering equipment and rental services under the ADI, Flygt, Godwin, Sanitaire, Magneto, Neptune Benson, Ionpure, Leopold, Wedeco, and Xylem Vue brands.