Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) Shares Purchased by Nordea Investment Management AB

Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR - Free Report) by 69.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 236,502 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 97,172 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB owned approximately 0.14% of Pentair worth $23,835,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Pentair by 91.7% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,082,362 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $159,655,000 after acquiring an additional 996,325 shares in the last quarter. Interval Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Pentair by 289.6% in the 2nd quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 956,117 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $73,305,000 after buying an additional 710,703 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Pentair by 862.2% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 441,887 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $43,212,000 after acquiring an additional 395,962 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Pentair during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,748,000. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Pentair by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,756,075 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $856,257,000 after acquiring an additional 259,922 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.37% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on PNR shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Pentair from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Pentair from $115.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Pentair from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Pentair from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Pentair from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $109.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pentair

In other news, EVP Philip M. Rolchigo sold 3,588 shares of Pentair stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.67, for a total value of $357,615.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,232 shares in the company, valued at $1,916,853.44. This trade represents a 15.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Pentair Stock Performance

Pentair stock traded up $0.73 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $99.41. The company had a trading volume of 919,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 967,380. The company has a market capitalization of $16.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.21. Pentair plc has a 12-month low of $68.69 and a 12-month high of $110.71. The company's fifty day moving average is $104.42 and its 200-day moving average is $93.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $993.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $988.53 million. Pentair had a net margin of 16.29% and a return on equity of 20.48%. The firm's revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Pentair plc will post 4.28 EPS for the current year.

Pentair Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. This is an increase from Pentair's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Pentair's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.00%.

About Pentair

Pentair plc provides various water solutions in the United States, Western Europe, China, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australia, Canada, and Japan. The company operates through three segments: Flow, Water Solutions, and Pool. The Flow segment designs, manufactures, and sells fluid treatment and pump products and systems, including pressure vessels, gas recovery solutions, membrane bioreactors, wastewater reuse systems and advanced membrane filtration, separation systems, water disposal pumps, water supply pumps, fluid transfer pumps, turbine pumps, solid handling pumps, and agricultural spray nozzles for fluid delivery, ion exchange, desalination, food and beverage, separation technologies in the oil and gas industry, residential and municipal wells, water treatment, wastewater solids handling, pressure boosting, circulation and transfer, fire suppression, flood control, agricultural irrigation, and crop spray in residential, commercial, and industrial markets.