Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Sells 162 Shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. trimmed its position in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,450 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 162 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Pool were worth $1,774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Pool by 62.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,204,052 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $364,021,000 after purchasing an additional 462,507 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Pool by 56.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 865,362 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $308,156,000 after buying an additional 313,190 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its holdings in Pool by 463.2% during the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 240,623 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $85,686,000 after acquiring an additional 197,900 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Pool by 30,047.2% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 183,898 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $73,322,000 after acquiring an additional 183,288 shares during the period. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Pool by 11.1% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,618,956 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $554,395,000 after acquiring an additional 162,319 shares during the last quarter. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pool Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ POOL opened at $380.20 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Pool Co. has a 1 year low of $307.77 and a 1 year high of $422.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $395.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $372.37.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.02. Pool had a return on equity of 37.94% and a net margin of 9.44%. The firm had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.79 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Pool Co. will post 13.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pool Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Pool’s payout ratio is 33.03%.

Insider Activity

In other Pool news, General Counsel Jennifer M. Neil sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $401.00, for a total value of $441,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 8,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,457,422. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TheStreet cut shares of Pool from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Pool from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the company from $380.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Pool in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Pool in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Pool from $407.00 to $436.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $388.63.

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.