ProShare Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR)

ProShare Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) by 10.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,923,560 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 221,714 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Pentair were worth $193,587,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PNR. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Pentair in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pentair by 753.8% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 333 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its position in shares of Pentair by 230.8% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 344 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank increased its position in shares of Pentair by 144.9% during the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 507 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pentair during the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pentair

In other news, Director David A. /Wi Jones sold 6,558 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.94, for a total transaction of $589,826.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 26,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,366,591.22. This represents a 19.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Pentair Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE PNR opened at $97.11 on Thursday. Pentair plc has a 1-year low of $72.63 and a 1-year high of $110.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $15.98 billion, a PE ratio of 25.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.44.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.38 million. Pentair had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 20.94%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pentair plc will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pentair Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Pentair’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Pentair from $125.00 to $102.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Pentair from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Pentair from $114.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Pentair from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Pentair from $118.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pentair has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.93.

Pentair Company Profile

Pentair plc provides various water solutions in the United States, Western Europe, China, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australia, Canada, and Japan. The company operates through three segments: Flow, Water Solutions, and Pool. The Flow segment designs, manufactures, and sells fluid treatment and pump products and systems, including pressure vessels, gas recovery solutions, membrane bioreactors, wastewater reuse systems and advanced membrane filtration, separation systems, water disposal pumps, water supply pumps, fluid transfer pumps, turbine pumps, solid handling pumps, and agricultural spray nozzles for fluid delivery, ion exchange, desalination, food and beverage, separation technologies in the oil and gas industry, residential and municipal wells, water treatment, wastewater solids handling, pressure boosting, circulation and transfer, fire suppression, flood control, agricultural irrigation, and crop spray in residential, commercial, and industrial markets.