Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its position in shares of Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,710 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,287 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Xylem were worth $5,651,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Xylem by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 26,798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,125,000 after purchasing an additional 5,286 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in Xylem by 66.9% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 15,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,152,000 after buying an additional 6,386 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Xylem by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,683,201 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $427,325,000 after buying an additional 691,618 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in shares of Xylem by 89.6% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 16,340 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,206,000 after buying an additional 7,723 shares during the period. Finally, Benson Investment Management Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Xylem in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,094,000. 87.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XYL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Xylem from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price 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. Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of Xylem in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Xylem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.89.

Xylem Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of XYL opened at $123.34 on Wednesday. Xylem Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.26 and a 1-year high of $146.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $125.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $126.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.70, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.08.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Xylem had a return on equity of 9.96% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Xylem Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

Xylem Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. Xylem’s dividend payout ratio is 43.72%.

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.