Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Acquires 1,287 Shares of Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm 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.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in XYL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Xylem by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,644,417 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,323,325,000 after acquiring an additional 303,854 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Xylem by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,329,494 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,394,792,000 after purchasing an additional 189,820 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Xylem by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,668,755 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $762,804,000 after purchasing an additional 54,877 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its position in Xylem by 231.5% during the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,561,661 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $644,039,000 after purchasing an additional 3,883,845 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its stake in Xylem by 23.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.96% of the company’s stock.

Xylem Stock Performance

Shares of XYL opened at $123.34 on Wednesday. Xylem Inc. has a one year low of $113.26 and a one year high of $146.08. The business has a fifty day moving average of $125.50 and a 200 day moving average of $126.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.70, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.08.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.06. Xylem had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 9.96%. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Xylem Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

Xylem Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Xylem’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup downgraded shares of Xylem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Xylem from $166.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of Xylem in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.89.

About Xylem

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.