Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Acquires 109,300 Shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR - Free Report) by 125.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 196,700 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 109,300 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. owned about 0.12% of Pentair worth $19,796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PNR. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Pentair by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,962,263 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $197,482,000 after acquiring an additional 428,184 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in Pentair by 219.0% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 604,758 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $60,863,000 after acquiring an additional 415,163 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Pentair by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,101,253 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $614,030,000 after acquiring an additional 396,581 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Pentair in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,568,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in Pentair by 67.4% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 888,212 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $89,390,000 after acquiring an additional 357,523 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.37% of the company's stock.

Pentair Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PNR traded up $3.31 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $101.12. 1,558,868 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,506,332. The firm has a market cap of $16.64 billion, a PE ratio of 27.04, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.11. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $87.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.43. Pentair plc has a 12 month low of $72.63 and a 12 month high of $110.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR - Get Free Report) 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 20.94% and a net margin of 15.32%. 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, equities analysts anticipate that Pentair plc will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pentair Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. Pentair's payout ratio is 25.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pentair 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 transaction of $589,826.52. Following the transaction, the director now owns 26,313 shares in the company, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.45% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on PNR shares. Citigroup cut their price objective on Pentair from $118.00 to $98.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays upped their target price on Pentair from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Baird R W raised Pentair from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $95.00 price objective on Pentair and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Northcoast Research raised Pentair from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.14.

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.