Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) Shares Bought by Ascent Group LLC

Ascent Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,008 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 687 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $1,590,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Dedication LLC purchased a new position in Ferguson in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 1,350.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 145 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ferguson during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Ferguson during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Ferguson during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. 81.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ian T. Graham sold 5,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.27, for a total transaction of $1,162,938.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,195,141.26. The trade was a 49.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael Jacobs sold 2,624 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.96, for a total transaction of $527,319.04. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,116 shares in the company, valued at approximately $224,271.36. This trade represents a 70.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,313 shares of company stock valued at $2,477,901 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FERG. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Ferguson from $211.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $203.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $234.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.38.

Ferguson Price Performance

Shares of FERG opened at $214.10 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $42.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.28, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.21. Ferguson plc has a 52 week low of $167.09 and a 52 week high of $225.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $201.96 and a 200-day moving average of $202.40.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $7.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.01 billion. Ferguson had a net margin of 5.85% and a return on equity of 36.53%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.77 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Ferguson plc will post 9.77 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.05%.

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.