Nomura Holdings Inc. Acquires 7,532 Shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR)

Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR - Free Report) by 49.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,762 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 7,532 shares during the quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Pentair were worth $2,291,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Pentair in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pentair by 753.8% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 333 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. 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 worth $35,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pentair in the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Pentair during the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. 92.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Pentair Trading Up 0.2%

PNR stock traded up $0.22 during trading on Thursday, hitting $97.55. The company had a trading volume of 210,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,504,378. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $88.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.46. Pentair plc has a 12 month low of $72.63 and a 12 month 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. The stock has a market cap of $16.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.09, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.11.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR - Get Free Report) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $988.38 million. Pentair had a return on equity of 20.94% and a net margin of 15.32%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Pentair plc will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Pentair Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. Pentair's payout ratio is presently 25.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on PNR shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Pentair from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Pentair from $114.00 to $107.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Pentair from $118.00 to $98.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Pentair from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Pentair from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.14.

Insider Activity

In other Pentair news, Director David A. /Wi Jones sold 6,558 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 26,313 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,366,591.22. This trade represents a 19.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Pentair Company 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.