8,227 Shares in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) Acquired by Generali Asset Management SPA SGR

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 8,227 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,805,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new position in shares of Pool in the third quarter worth about $152,249,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Pool in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $116,833,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Pool by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,260,313 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $474,886,000 after purchasing an additional 232,914 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in Pool during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,750,000. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC raised its stake in Pool by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 274,165 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $93,474,000 after purchasing an additional 69,435 shares during the period. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of Pool stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 62,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,651,642. This trade represents a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Pool Stock Down 0.9 %

Pool stock opened at $322.22 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.05. Pool Co. has a 1-year low of $293.51 and a 1-year high of $420.98. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $342.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $354.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $0.97 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $961.04 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Pool Co. will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pool Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Pool’s dividend payout ratio is 42.55%.

Pool 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.