Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 21,870 Shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,443,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,870 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Pool worth $1,514,950,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Second Line Capital LLC lifted its position in Pool by 4.8% during the third quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 853 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Pool by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pool by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 579 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $197,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pool by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 7,250 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,732,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pool by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,578 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,993,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Pool from $370.00 to $360.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pool currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $368.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pool

In other Pool news, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.00, for a total transaction of $3,460,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 62,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,651,642. This trade represents a 13.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Pool Stock Down 0.8 %

POOL stock opened at $324.18 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $341.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $353.72. The stock has a market cap of $12.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Pool Co. has a twelve month low of $293.51 and a twelve month high of $410.60.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $987.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $961.04 million. Pool had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 31.11%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Pool Co. will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Pool Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. Pool’s payout ratio is presently 42.55%.

About Pool

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.