Carret Asset Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

Carret Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 160 shares during the quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Xylem were worth $1,349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Xylem by 11.5% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,528,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $412,267,000 after buying an additional 466,911 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Xylem by 35.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,182,821 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $380,762,000 after buying an additional 1,086,102 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Xylem by 10.6% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,408,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $310,249,000 after buying an additional 327,383 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Xylem by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 3,066,639 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $350,701,000 after buying an additional 69,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Xylem by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,617,441 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $238,266,000 after purchasing an additional 100,728 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James raised Xylem from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Xylem from $126.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Xylem from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. BNP Paribas began coverage on Xylem in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $150.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Xylem from $141.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Xylem has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Geri-Michelle Mcshane sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.89, for a total value of $122,890.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $360,682.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Xylem news, CAO Geri-Michelle Mcshane sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.89, for a total value of $122,890.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $360,682.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Franz Cerwinka sold 2,408 shares of Xylem stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.79, for a total value of $293,270.32. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,431,032.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Xylem Stock Down 0.5 %

Xylem stock traded down $0.71 during trading on Thursday, reaching $129.96. 296,441 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,145,717. The company’s 50-day moving average is $127.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.76. Xylem Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.59 and a 52-week high of $132.23. The firm has a market cap of $31.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.04, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Xylem Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. This is a positive change from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Xylem’s payout ratio is currently 52.94%.

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.