Baillie Gifford & Co. Lowers Position in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

Baillie Gifford & Co. trimmed its stake in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 17.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,638,523 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 351,051 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in Xylem were worth $190,101,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of XYL. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Xylem by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,683,201 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $427,325,000 after purchasing an additional 691,618 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in Xylem in the third quarter valued at approximately $68,593,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in Xylem during the third quarter valued at approximately $52,169,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Xylem by 17.8% during the third quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,657,785 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $223,851,000 after buying an additional 249,975 shares in the last quarter. 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 buying an additional 189,820 shares in the last quarter. 87.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “peer perform” rating on shares of Xylem in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup cut shares of Xylem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Xylem from $166.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Xylem from $138.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Xylem from $163.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.90.

Xylem Stock Performance

Shares of XYL opened at $129.41 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $121.33 and its 200-day moving average is $127.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.42. Xylem Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.26 and a 12-month high of $146.08.

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

Xylem Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. This is a positive change 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 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.