3,787 Shares in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) Bought by Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 3,787 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,291,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Pool in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $116,833,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Pool by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,260,313 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $474,886,000 after purchasing an additional 232,914 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Pool by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,042,514 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $355,435,000 after buying an additional 224,674 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc boosted its position in Pool by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 598,689 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $204,117,000 after buying an additional 194,632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in shares of Pool by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 636,007 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $216,840,000 after buying an additional 129,780 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Pool

In other Pool news, SVP Jennifer M. Neil sold 1,223 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,045,105. This represents a 11.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 62,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,651,642. The trade was a 13.78% 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 insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on POOL shares. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Pool from $370.00 to $322.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $300.00 target price on Pool in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Stephens reduced their price target on Pool from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Pool from $325.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $300.00 target price on shares of Pool in a report on Friday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $336.22.

Pool Price Performance

Pool stock opened at $303.47 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $309.04 and its 200 day moving average is $336.96. Pool Co. has a one year low of $284.28 and a one year high of $395.60. The firm has a market cap of $11.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.20. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The specialty retailer reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. Pool had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 8.18%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.85 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Pool Co. will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Pool announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $600.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty retailer to buy up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Pool Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. This is a positive change from Pool’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Pool’s payout ratio is presently 46.90%.

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.