Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) Shares Purchased by First National Advisers LLC

First National Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,117 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. First National Advisers LLC’s holdings in Pool were worth $2,426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in shares of Pool by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 1,103 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Second Line Capital LLC grew its holdings in Pool by 4.8% during the third quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 853 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pool by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $383,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pool by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 579 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $197,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pool by 0.8% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 7,250 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,732,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on POOL shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $368.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pool news, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.00, for a total value of $3,460,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 62,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,651,642. This represents a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Pool Stock Up 2.0 %

POOL opened at $327.21 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $343.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $355.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.05. 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 Co. has a one year low of $293.51 and a one year high of $420.98.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Pool Co. will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pool Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued 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%.

Pool 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.