American Century Companies Inc. Cuts Position in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

American Century Companies Inc. decreased its holdings in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 20.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,844,226 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 466,432 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Xylem were worth $213,967,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Xylem by 22.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,991,583 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $403,953,000 after buying an additional 554,609 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Xylem by 4.0% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,875 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $658,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its position in shares of Xylem by 3.1% in the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 7,430 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after buying an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in shares of Xylem by 9.2% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 2,648 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Xylem by 0.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,345,768 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $181,719,000 after buying an additional 5,817 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 research analysts have recently weighed in on XYL shares. Citigroup cut Xylem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wolfe Research restated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Xylem in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Xylem from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Xylem from $166.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Xylem currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.89.

Xylem Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:XYL opened at $118.27 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $125.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Xylem Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.26 and a 12-month high of $146.08. The firm has a market cap of $28.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.31, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.08.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.06. Xylem had a return on equity of 9.96% and a net margin of 10.40%. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. This is a positive change from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Xylem’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.72%.

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.