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

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,443,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,870 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.67% of Pool worth $1,514,950,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Pool by 22.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,260,313 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $474,886,000 after buying an additional 232,914 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Pool by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 964,343 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $362,196,000 after acquiring an additional 6,232 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its position in Pool by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 565,339 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $213,020,000 after acquiring an additional 3,428 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Pool by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 419,919 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $143,167,000 after purchasing an additional 3,575 shares during the period. Finally, Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new stake in Pool in the third quarter valued at approximately $152,249,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on POOL shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pool presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $368.00.

Insider Activity

In other 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 sale, the director now owns 62,577 shares in the company, valued at $21,651,642. This represents a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Pool Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ POOL opened at $324.18 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $341.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $353.72. Pool Co. has a 12 month low of $293.51 and a 12 month high of $410.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.20 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Pool Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.48%. Pool’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.