Markel Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Xylem Inc. $XYL

Key Points

• Markel Group established a new position in Xylem, acquiring 12,283 shares worth approximately $1.24 million in the third quarter.
• Xylem’s latest quarter fell slightly short of expectations, reporting $1.44 in earnings per share versus $1.45 expected and $2.20 billion in revenue versus $2.28 billion expected; revenue declined 3% year over year.
• Analyst views are mixed: nine analysts rate the stock Buy, seven Hold and two Sell, for a consensus Hold rating and an average price target of $121.31.

Markel Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 12,283 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,244,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. XXEC Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Xylem in the 2nd quarter worth $850,841,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Xylem during the second quarter valued at about $2,959,730,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Xylem during the second quarter valued at about $552,313,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in Xylem during the second quarter worth about $319,785,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in Xylem during the second quarter worth about $223,165,000. 87.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Xylem

In related news, Director D Koch purchased 11,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $89.60 per share, for a total transaction of $985,600.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 12,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,097,331.20. This trade represents a 882.12% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays downgraded shares of Xylem from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $139.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Xylem from a "hold (c)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Xylem from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Xylem from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Xylem in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $121.31.

Xylem Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE XYL opened at $96.08 on Wednesday. The business's fifty day moving average is $104.36 and its 200-day moving average is $117.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.26, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.01. Xylem Inc. has a one year low of $87.40 and a one year high of $152.43.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The industrial products company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.45 by ($0.01). Xylem had a net margin of 11.94% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. Xylem's quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Xylem Inc. will post 5.45 EPS for the current year.

Xylem Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 27th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 27th. Xylem's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.05%.

Xylem Company Profile

Xylem Inc NYSE: XYL is a global water technology company that develops products and services for the transportation, treatment, testing and efficient use of water and wastewater. Its offerings support municipal water and wastewater utilities, industrial customers, commercial facilities and residential applications.

The company's products and solutions include water and wastewater pumps, treatment systems, dewatering equipment, smart meters, monitoring and control technologies, leak detection tools, and data-driven analytics.

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