Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) Shares Sold by Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group

Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group reduced its stake in shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) by 10.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,692 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,309 shares during the period. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group’s holdings in Pentair were worth $935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Pentair by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,216,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,034,575,000 after buying an additional 148,031 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pentair by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,101,253 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $614,030,000 after buying an additional 396,581 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pentair by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,086,763 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $410,240,000 after buying an additional 87,244 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pentair by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,468,651 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $349,085,000 after purchasing an additional 217,867 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Pentair by 2.5% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,050,774 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $179,402,000 after purchasing an additional 50,718 shares during the period. 92.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Pentair

In related news, Director David A. /Wi Jones sold 6,558 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.94, for a total value of $589,826.52. Following the transaction, the director owned 26,313 shares in the company, valued at $2,366,591.22. This trade represents a 19.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Pentair Price Performance

Pentair stock traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $106.68. 90,495 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,488,196. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business has a fifty day moving average of $100.80 and a 200 day moving average of $95.31. Pentair plc has a 1-year low of $74.25 and a 1-year high of $110.71. The company has a market capitalization of $17.55 billion, a PE ratio of 27.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.09.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.10. Pentair had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 15.87%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $988.38 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Pentair plc will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Pentair Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Pentair’s dividend payout ratio is 25.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PNR. UBS Group lowered their price target on Pentair from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Pentair from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Pentair from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $113.00 in a report on Friday, May 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Pentair from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $95.00 target price on shares of Pentair and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pentair presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.43.

Pentair Profile

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.