Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Trims Holdings in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS reduced its stake in shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,092 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 236 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Pool were worth $2,759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in POOL. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Pool by 2,300.0% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 72 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Pool during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Pool in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pool in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in Pool by 76.9% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 138 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. 98.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on POOL. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Pool from $370.00 to $360.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pool has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $368.00.

Pool Stock Performance

POOL stock opened at $325.94 on Tuesday. Pool Co. has a one year low of $293.51 and a one year high of $418.32. The firm has a market cap of $12.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.90, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 2.05. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $342.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $354.23.

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

Pool Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. Pool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pool

In other Pool news, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 62,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,651,642. This represents a 13.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.