Perez De La Mesa Manuel J buys $1.9M of POOL

The Transaction

Director PEREZ DE LA MESA MANUEL J purchased 10,000 shares of POOL Corporation common stock for $1,900,000 at $190.00 per share on May 7, 2026, per a Form 4 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under issuer CIK 945841 on May 8, 2026. The filing is accessible via EDGAR accession number 0000945841-26-000114, and the transaction constitutes a fully funded open-market purchase with no derivative security ties.

Insider Context

This purchase marks the first open-market share acquisition by Perez de la Mesa in the 90-day window reviewed, following a series of zero-cost stock awards to directors and executives on April 30 and May 5, 2026. On the same May 7 transaction date, two additional independent directors also made open-market purchases: Stokely John E bought 1,000 shares at $193.065, and Hope James D bought 464 shares at $194.415. No insider selling activity appears in the 90-day SEC Form 4 filings, with all disclosed transactions since April 30 consisting of either open-market buys or mandatory equity grants. The May 8 Form 4 filings align with an 8-K/A amendment filed the same day, per SEC EDGAR records.

Cross-Reference with Institutions and Analysts

POOL has a $6.8B market capitalization, with 98.8% of its float held by 664 institutional holders as of December 31, 2025, per the most recent 13F filing. Over that prior reporting period, 284 institutions increased their POOL positions, while 295 reduced holdings. Analyst ratings have remained static since March 1, 2026, with a distribution of 0 Strong Buy, 5 Buy, 8 Hold, 0 Sell, and 1 Strong Sell across all covered firms as of May 1, 2026. The simultaneous director purchases come one day after a May 4, 2026 announcement of a leadership transition, which was followed by a Seeking Alpha rating upgrade on May 7.

What This Transaction Does NOT Signal

1. This open-market purchase does not imply a formal change to POOL’s forward earnings guidance, as no updated guidance was disclosed in the May 8, 2026 8-K/A or accompanying Form 4 filings.

2. The coordinated director buys do not reflect universal executive sentiment, as CEO John Bruce Watwood’s recent equity activity was limited to two zero-cost stock awards totaling 12,915 shares on May 5, 2026, rather than out-of-pocket capital commitments.

3. The transactions do not signal a near-term shift in institutional positioning, as the most recent 13F data predates the May 2026 insider purchases and reflects institutional holdings through the end of 2025.