Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) Position Lessened by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its position in shares of Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,902 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 893 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Xylem were worth $1,497,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of XYL. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its holdings in shares of Xylem by 231.5% during the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,561,661 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $644,039,000 after acquiring an additional 3,883,845 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new stake in shares of Xylem during the fourth quarter worth $96,658,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Xylem by 42.9% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,326,024 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $269,865,000 after acquiring an additional 698,745 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Xylem by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,683,201 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $427,325,000 after acquiring an additional 691,618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of Xylem during the third quarter worth $68,593,000. 87.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on XYL. Citigroup lowered Xylem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Xylem from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Xylem from $166.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research restated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Xylem in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.89.

Xylem Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:XYL opened at $118.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $28.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $125.24 and its 200-day moving average is $126.15. Xylem Inc. has a 52-week low of $113.26 and a 52-week high of $146.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.76.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Xylem had a return on equity of 9.96% and a net margin of 10.40%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Xylem Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Xylem Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. Xylem’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.72%.

About Xylem

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.