Achmea Investment Management B.V. Reduces Stock Position in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Achmea Investment Management B.V. reduced its holdings in shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 49.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,259 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 3,146 shares during the quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V.’s holdings in Pool were worth $1,111,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pool by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 204,730 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $77,142,000 after buying an additional 6,987 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake 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 in the last quarter. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP purchased a new stake in Pool in the 4th quarter worth approximately $653,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Pool by 46.6% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 15,576 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,869,000 after purchasing an additional 4,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Pool by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 260,333 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $98,093,000 after purchasing an additional 3,268 shares in the last quarter. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $368.00.

Insider Activity at Pool

In related news, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.00, for a total transaction of $3,460,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 62,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,651,642. This trade represents a 13.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Pool Stock Performance

Pool stock opened at $327.21 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $343.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $355.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 2.05. The stock has a market cap 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. Pool Co. has a fifty-two week low of $293.51 and a fifty-two week 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.08. Pool had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The firm had revenue of $987.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $961.04 million. On average, equities research analysts expect 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 will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Pool’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.