National Pension Service Sells 37,300 Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

National Pension Service lessened its holdings in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 260,586 shares of the company’s stock after selling 37,300 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.13% of Ferguson worth $45,230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC boosted its position in Ferguson by 3.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,468,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,668,462,000 after purchasing an additional 288,935 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Ferguson by 3.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,541,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $905,230,000 after purchasing an additional 161,662 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ferguson by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,197,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $633,409,000 after purchasing an additional 25,677 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Ferguson by 6.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,371,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,858,000 after purchasing an additional 133,769 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Ferguson by 423.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,462,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $290,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183,143 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on FERG. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $219.00 price objective on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $221.00 to $189.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $193.00 price objective (down from $230.00) on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Berenberg Bank raised their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $234.00 to $211.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ferguson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.73.

Ferguson Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of FERG opened at $175.21 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $178.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $193.45. The company has a market capitalization of $35.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Ferguson plc has a 1-year low of $167.27 and a 1-year high of $225.63.

Ferguson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th were paid a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Ferguson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 20th. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.86%.

Ferguson Profile

Ferguson plc distributes plumbing and heating products in the United States and Canada. It offers plumbing and heating solutions to customers in the residential, commercial, civil/infrastructure, and industrial end markets. The company also provides expertise, solutions, and products, including infrastructure, plumbing, appliances, fire, fabrication, and others, as well as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning products under the Ferguson brand name.