Avanza Fonder AB Takes $1.49 Million Position in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR)

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 16,766 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,494,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Pentair in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pentair in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its holdings in shares of Pentair by 230.8% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 344 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Pentair by 128.4% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 507 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Pentair in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pentair

In related news, Director David A. /Wi Jones sold 6,558 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.94, for a total value of $589,826.52. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 26,313 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,366,591.22. This represents a 19.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Pentair Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:PNR traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $98.78. 781,765 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,493,890. Pentair plc has a twelve month low of $72.63 and a twelve month high of $110.71. The company has a market cap of $16.25 billion, a PE ratio of 26.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.60. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $91.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.88.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $988.38 million. Pentair had a return on equity of 20.94% and a net margin of 15.32%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Pentair plc will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pentair Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Pentair's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PNR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Pentair from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Pentair from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Pentair from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Pentair from $118.00 to $98.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Pentair from $114.00 to $107.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $107.14.

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.