Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 255,626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,506 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.15% of Pentair worth $14,128,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PNR. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Pentair during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new stake in Pentair during the first quarter worth about $49,000. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Pentair during the first quarter worth about $56,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Pentair during the first quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Pentair during the first quarter worth about $77,000. 88.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on PNR shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Pentair in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Pentair from $65.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Pentair from $63.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Pentair in a research note on Wednesday, June 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Pentair from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Pentair has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pentair news, CEO John L. Stauch sold 32,596 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.42, for a total transaction of $2,328,006.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 7,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $549,219.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Pentair Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:PNR opened at $66.37 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $67.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.62. The stock has a market cap of $10.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.16. Pentair plc has a fifty-two week low of $38.55 and a fifty-two week high of $71.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.08. Pentair had a net margin of 11.82% and a return on equity of 22.39%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Pentair plc will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Pentair

Pentair plc provides various water solutions worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Pool, Water Solutions, Industrial & Flow Technologies. It designs, manufactures, and sells residential and commercial pool equipment and accessories, including pumps, filters, heaters, lights, automatic controls, automatic cleaners, maintenance equipment, and pool accessories for residential and commercial pool maintenance, repair, renovation, service, and construction applications; and water treatment products and systems comprising pressure tanks, control valves, activated carbon products, conventional filtration products, and point-of-entry and point-of-use systems for use in residential whole home water filtration, drinking water filtration, water softening solutions, commercial total water management and filtration, and foodservice operations.