Vontobel Holding Ltd. Purchases 223,596 Shares of Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 19.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,349,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 223,596 shares during the period. Xylem comprises about 0.8% of Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned approximately 0.56% of Xylem worth $154,325,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of XYL. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xylem in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Xylem in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Xylem during the 1st quarter valued at about $42,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Xylem during the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Xylem during the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors own 87.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Xylem

In other news, SVP Franz Cerwinka sold 2,408 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.79, for a total transaction of $293,270.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,431,032.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CAO Geri-Michelle Mcshane sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.89, for a total value of $122,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $360,682.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Franz Cerwinka sold 2,408 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.79, for a total value of $293,270.32. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,431,032.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Xylem Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Xylem stock traded down $0.68 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $128.11. The company had a trading volume of 899,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 894,723. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day moving average of $126.36 and a 200 day moving average of $111.24. Xylem Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.59 and a 52-week high of $130.86.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.05 billion. Xylem had a return on equity of 9.65% and a net margin of 8.27%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 40.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Xylem Inc. will post 4.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xylem Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 21st were given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. This is a boost from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. Xylem’s dividend payout ratio is 52.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Xylem from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Citigroup upped their target price on Xylem from $126.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Xylem from $141.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Xylem in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Xylem from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight 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 target price of $135.44.

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.