Xylem Inc. $XYL Stock: Welch & Forbes LLC Decreases Stake

Welch & Forbes LLC decreased its holdings in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 3.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 384,211 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 11,756 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Xylem were worth $38,909,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Xylem during the second quarter valued at about $2,959,730,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in Xylem by 2.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,444,669 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,352,874,000 after buying an additional 270,972 shares in the last quarter. XXEC Inc. bought a new position in Xylem in the second quarter worth about $850,841,000. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Xylem by 1.1% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,763,241 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $569,207,000 after buying an additional 53,210 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Xylem in the second quarter worth about $552,313,000. Institutional investors own 87.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

XYL has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on Xylem from $112.00 to $99.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $123.00 target price on Xylem in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Xylem in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Xylem from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Xylem from $141.00 to $114.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.31.

Insider Activity at Xylem

In related news, Director D Koch purchased 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $89.60 per share, with a total value of $985,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 12,247 shares in the company, valued at $1,097,331.20. This trade represents a 882.12% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Xylem Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE XYL opened at $99.19 on Tuesday. Xylem Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.40 and a 1 year high of $152.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $103.31 and a 200 day moving average of $116.27. The stock has a market cap of $22.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.01.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The industrial products company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by ($0.01). Xylem had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 11.94%. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. Xylem’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Xylem Inc. will post 5.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xylem Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 27th were given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 27th. Xylem’s payout ratio is currently 38.05%.

Xylem Profile

Xylem Inc is a water technology company that develops equipment, software and services for managing water and wastewater. Its offerings include pumps and treatment systems, water-quality testing and analysis, smart meters, monitoring and control technologies, and services for detecting leaks and maintaining water infrastructure.

The company serves water and wastewater utilities, industrial and commercial customers, and residential markets. Its technologies support the movement, treatment, testing and efficient use of water across municipal and industrial systems.

Xylem was established in 2011 when it became an independent company following its spin-off from ITT Corporation.