Norden Group LLC Has $1.06 Million Position in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Norden Group LLC lowered its position in shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL - Free Report) by 29.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,121 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 1,287 shares during the quarter. Norden Group LLC's holdings in Pool were worth $1,064,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Pool by 22.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 6,232 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in Pool by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 565,339 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $213,020,000 after buying an additional 3,428 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted 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 worth $143,167,000 after purchasing an additional 3,575 shares during the period. Finally, Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new stake in Pool in the third quarter worth $152,249,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

POOL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 lowered 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 given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $368.00.

Pool Price Performance

POOL traded up $2.63 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $343.92. The stock had a trading volume of 340,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 394,635. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $342.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $355.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.03. Pool Co. has a 1-year low of $293.51 and a 1-year high of $422.73.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The company had revenue of $987.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $961.04 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Pool Co. will post 11.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pool Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Pool's payout ratio is 42.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $21,651,642. The trade was a 13.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

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.