Essex Investment Management Co. LLC Sells 26,003 Shares of Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

Essex Investment Management Co. LLC lowered its stake in shares of Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 53.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,821 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 26,003 shares during the period. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC’s holdings in Xylem were worth $2,648,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Xylem in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,648,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Xylem in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Xylem by 24.0% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 521 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new position in Xylem in the 4th quarter worth $96,658,000. Finally, Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. acquired a new stake in shares of Xylem in the 4th quarter valued at about $922,000. 87.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on XYL shares. Wolfe Research restated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Xylem in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Xylem from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Xylem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.90.

Xylem Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of XYL opened at $130.79 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.79 billion, a PE ratio of 35.74, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $124.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $127.00. 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.

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, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. Xylem’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Xylem Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

Xylem Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Xylem’s payout ratio is 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.