Blair William & Co. IL Has $241.45 Million Stake in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Blair William & Co. IL reduced its holdings in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 708,190 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 55,999 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL owned about 1.86% of Pool worth $241,450,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Pool by 816.8% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 40,860 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $13,601,000 after purchasing an additional 36,403 shares during the last quarter. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP bought a new stake in shares of Pool in the fourth quarter valued at about $653,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Pool by 46.6% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 15,576 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,869,000 after buying an additional 4,954 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Pool by 1.3% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 260,333 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $98,093,000 after acquiring an additional 3,268 shares during the period. Finally, World Equity Group Inc. acquired a new position in Pool in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $272,000. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

POOL has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target 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 given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $368.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of Pool stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 62,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,651,642. The trade was a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Pool Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ POOL opened at $326.93 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $342.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $354.12. Pool Co. has a one year low of $293.51 and a one year high of $415.05. The firm has a market cap of $12.30 billion, a PE ratio of 28.98, 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 (NASDAQ:POOL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.08. Pool had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 8.18%. The company had revenue of $987.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $961.04 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pool Co. will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pool Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. 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.