First Horizon Advisors Inc. Reduces Position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 16.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 272 shares of the company’s stock after selling 55 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $54,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 589.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,619,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,778,000 after purchasing an additional 1,384,570 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ferguson during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ferguson in the 1st quarter valued at $3,469,000. Vancity Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ferguson in the first quarter worth $11,901,000. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 33.2% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,966 shares of the company’s stock worth $866,000 after purchasing an additional 989 shares during the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ferguson

In related news, CMO Victoria Morrissey sold 1,468 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.20, for a total value of $295,361.60. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 5,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,047,246. The trade was a 22.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Richard Winckler sold 1,325 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.75, for a total transaction of $267,318.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,750. This trade represents a 56.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,313 shares of company stock worth $2,477,901 in the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on FERG. UBS Group increased their price target on Ferguson from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays lifted their price target on Ferguson from $229.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $234.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Ferguson from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Ferguson from $203.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.38.

Ferguson Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Ferguson stock opened at $208.94 on Monday. Ferguson plc has a 1-year low of $166.21 and a 1-year high of $225.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $41.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $200.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $202.61.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.12. Ferguson had a return on equity of 36.53% and a net margin of 5.85%. The company had revenue of $7.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.77 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Ferguson plc will post 9.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.05%.

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.