Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) Shares Purchased by Polen Capital Management LLC

Polen Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 62.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,962 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,290 shares during the quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Pool were worth $2,033,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Pool by 22.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,260,313 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $474,886,000 after buying an additional 232,914 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pool by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 964,343 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $362,196,000 after purchasing an additional 6,232 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Pool by 0.6% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 565,339 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $213,020,000 after purchasing an additional 3,428 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Pool by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 419,919 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $143,167,000 after purchasing an additional 3,575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new position in shares of Pool during the third quarter valued at approximately $152,249,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pool

In other Pool news, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Pool from $370.00 to $360.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com lowered Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pool currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $368.00.

Pool Stock Performance

Shares of POOL stock opened at $327.21 on Monday. Pool Co. has a 12-month low of $293.51 and a 12-month high of $420.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $343.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $355.21. 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, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $987.48 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $961.04 million. Pool had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 8.18%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Pool Co. will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Pool Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. Pool’s payout ratio is currently 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.