AQR Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR)

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR - Free Report) by 29.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,011,864 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 232,525 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.61% of Pentair worth $101,723,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PNR. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in Pentair by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 7,628 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $768,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Pentair by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,194 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $120,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Pentair by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 916 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Pentair by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,369 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Pentair by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 12,094 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,251,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.37% of the company's stock.

Pentair Trading Up 2.8 %

NYSE:PNR traded up $2.57 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $93.31. The stock had a trading volume of 1,189,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,503,878. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $86.48 and a 200 day moving average of $96.68. The company has a market capitalization of $15.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.95, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.13. Pentair plc has a one year low of $72.63 and a one year high of $110.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.10. Pentair had a return on equity of 20.94% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $988.38 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pentair plc will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Pentair Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Pentair's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.84%.

Insider Activity at Pentair

In other news, Director David A. /Wi Jones sold 6,558 shares of Pentair stock in a transaction on 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 now directly owns 26,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,366,591.22. This trade represents a 19.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PNR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Mizuho set a $100.00 target price on shares of Pentair in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Baird R W upgraded Pentair from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup cut their price target on Pentair from $118.00 to $98.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Pentair from $125.00 to $102.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Pentair from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $106.93.

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.