Cerity Partners LLC Increases Position in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,523 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Pool were worth $914,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in POOL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pool by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,443,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,514,950,000 after purchasing an additional 21,870 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Pool by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,260,313 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $474,886,000 after buying an additional 232,914 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Pool by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,042,514 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $355,435,000 after buying an additional 224,674 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Pool by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 977,862 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $332,566,000 after acquiring an additional 13,519 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in shares of Pool by 25.6% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 636,007 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $216,840,000 after acquiring an additional 129,780 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of Pool stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.00, for a total transaction of $3,460,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 62,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,651,642. This trade represents a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Jennifer M. Neil sold 1,223 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,045,105. This trade represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on POOL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Pool in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “hold” rating and a $344.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Pool from $360.00 to $315.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pool currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $360.33.

Pool Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:POOL opened at $306.25 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $327.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $346.88. Pool Co. has a 1 year low of $284.28 and a 1 year high of $395.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.08. Pool had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The business had revenue of $987.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $961.04 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Pool Co. will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pool Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Pool’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.55%.

Pool Company Profile

Pool Corporation distributes swimming pool supplies, equipment, and related leisure products in the United States and internationally. The company offers maintenance products, including chemicals, supplies, and pool accessories; repair and replacement parts for pool equipment, such as cleaners, filters, heaters, pumps, and lights; and building materials, such as concrete, plumbing and electrical components, functional and decorative pool surfaces, decking materials, tiles, hardscapes, and natural stones for pool installations and remodeling.