Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. Acquires New Shares in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in XYL. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Xylem by 399.3% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,951,349 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $251,632,000 after purchasing an additional 2,360,214 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Xylem by 145.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,731,215 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $412,561,000 after acquiring an additional 2,211,083 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Xylem in the 4th quarter worth about $197,762,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Xylem by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,390,911 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,738,529,000 after acquiring an additional 1,435,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Xylem by 53.6% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,828,177 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $326,390,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335,241 shares during the last quarter. 87.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

XYL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Xylem from $136.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Xylem in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James upgraded Xylem from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Xylem from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Xylem from $141.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Xylem presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.11.

Xylem Trading Up 0.5 %

XYL stock traded up $0.68 during trading on Friday, hitting $127.84. 2,250,015 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 921,680. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.99 billion, a PE ratio of 47.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.10. Xylem Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.59 and a 1 year high of $130.86. The company has a 50-day moving average of $127.01 and a 200-day moving average of $112.36. 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 (NYSE:XYL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.03. Xylem had a return on equity of 9.65% and a net margin of 8.27%. The company 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 business posted $0.92 EPS. Xylem’s quarterly revenue was up 40.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Xylem Inc. will post 4.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xylem Increases Dividend

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. This is a boost from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Xylem’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.94%.

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.