Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) Shares Sold by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC reduced its position in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 553,461 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 15,179 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned about 1.45% of Pool worth $188,697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new position in Pool during the third quarter worth $152,249,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Pool in the fourth quarter valued at $116,833,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Pool by 22.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,260,313 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $474,886,000 after acquiring an additional 232,914 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in Pool in the third quarter valued at $40,750,000. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Pool by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 274,165 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $93,474,000 after acquiring an additional 69,435 shares during the last quarter. 98.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 directly owns 62,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,651,642. This represents a 13.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on POOL. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Pool from $370.00 to $360.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Pool currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $368.00.

Pool Trading Up 2.0 %

Pool stock opened at $327.21 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $12.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.01, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.05. Pool Co. has a one year low of $293.51 and a one year high of $420.98. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $343.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $355.21.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $961.04 million. On average, analysts forecast that Pool Co. will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pool Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Pool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.55%.

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.