Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC Has $733,000 Holdings in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC trimmed its holdings in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 40.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,210 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,844 shares during the period. Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $733,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 288,935 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 lifted its holdings in Ferguson by 0.8% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Ferguson by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,371,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $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 grew its holdings in Ferguson by 423.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,462,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $290,475,000 after buying an additional 1,183,143 shares in the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FERG shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $219.00 target price on shares of Ferguson in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $230.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Berenberg Bank increased their target price on shares of Ferguson from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Ferguson in a report on Monday, February 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $204.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $193.00 price target (down from $230.00) on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.73.

Ferguson Stock Down 2.0 %

NASDAQ FERG opened at $175.90 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $178.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.17 billion, a PE ratio of 18.92, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.24. Ferguson plc has a fifty-two week low of $167.27 and a fifty-two week high of $225.63. 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 Increases Dividend

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

About Ferguson

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.