Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 241,906 Shares of Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) by 78.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,049 shares of the company’s stock after selling 241,906 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Leslie’s were worth $727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LESL. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Leslie’s by 106.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,009,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,703,000 after acquiring an additional 3,612,422 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Leslie’s by 19.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,441,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $212,435,000 after purchasing an additional 2,367,168 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Leslie’s by 79.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,469,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,747,000 after purchasing an additional 1,979,076 shares in the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Leslie’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $22,025,000. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Leslie’s by 71.1% in the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,109,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,707,430 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LESL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Leslie’s from $16.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Leslie’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $15.00 to $7.00 in a report on Monday, July 17th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Leslie’s from $12.00 to $7.00 in a research report on Friday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Leslie’s from $13.00 to $8.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 14th. Finally, Loop Capital cut Leslie’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $16.00 to $6.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.06.

Insider Activity at Leslie’s

In related news, CEO Michael R. Egeck bought 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $6.93 per share, for a total transaction of $346,500.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,391,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,575,271.02. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Leslie’s news, CEO Michael R. Egeck acquired 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $6.93 per share, for a total transaction of $346,500.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 2,391,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,575,271.02. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven M. Weddell bought 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $6.92 per share, with a total value of $173,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 1,436,377 shares in the company, valued at $9,939,728.84. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Leslie’s Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ LESL opened at $6.38 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.24, a P/E/G ratio of 7.11 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $7.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.73. Leslie’s, Inc. has a twelve month low of $5.28 and a twelve month high of $17.13.

Leslie’s (NASDAQ:LESL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $610.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $611.08 million. Leslie’s had a negative return on equity of 37.02% and a net margin of 4.60%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Leslie’s, Inc. will post 0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Leslie’s

Leslie's, Inc operates as a direct-to-consumer pool and spa care brand in the United States. The company markets and sells pool and spa supplies and related products and services. It offers various pool and spa maintenance items, such as chemicals, equipment and parts, cleaning and maintenance equipment, safety, recreational, and fitness related products, as well as installation and repair services for pool and spa equipment.