Wells Fargo & Company MN Acquires 21,473 Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 402,498 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 21,473 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $69,862,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ferguson by 906.7% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ferguson in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 92.5% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ferguson during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Ferguson by 41.1% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 333 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on FERG shares. Bank of America upgraded Ferguson from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lowered their price target on Ferguson from $211.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $189.00 price objective on shares of Ferguson in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $193.00 price objective (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.62.

Ferguson Trading Down 2.7 %

FERG stock opened at $148.05 on Wednesday. Ferguson plc has a 12 month low of $146.15 and a 12 month high of $225.63. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $169.74 and its 200 day moving average is $185.33. The company has a market capitalization of $29.60 billion, a PE ratio of 17.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.17. 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 (NASDAQ:FERG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.58 by ($0.06). Ferguson had a net margin of 5.68% and a return on equity of 34.63%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.74 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ferguson plc will post 9.4 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.84%.

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.