Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) Shares Sold by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its position in shares of Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,646 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 447 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Xylem were worth $771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Xylem during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xylem in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Xylem by 122.4% during the 4th quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 318 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Xylem by 69.5% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Xylem by 3,887.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 319 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. 87.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup cut Xylem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of Xylem in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Xylem from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.89.

Xylem Price Performance

XYL opened at $122.99 on Thursday. Xylem Inc. has a 1 year low of $113.26 and a 1 year high of $146.08. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $124.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.89 billion, a PE ratio of 33.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.08. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Xylem had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 9.96%. Xylem’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Xylem Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

Xylem Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. Xylem’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.72%.

Xylem Company 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.