Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) Holdings Cut by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. cut its stake in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 325 shares of the company’s stock after selling 63 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $63,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Ferguson by 375.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,289,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,218,032,000 after buying an additional 4,966,821 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 589.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,384,570 shares during the period. Capital World Investors bought a new position in shares of Ferguson during the first quarter worth about $104,723,000. APG Asset Management US Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ferguson in the 4th quarter worth about $89,758,000. Finally, Robeco Schweiz AG bought a new stake in Ferguson in the 4th quarter valued at about $61,782,000. 81.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on FERG shares. 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 research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Ferguson from $250.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Ferguson from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their price target on Ferguson from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $229.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.57.

Ferguson Price Performance

NASDAQ:FERG opened at $208.19 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $204.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $206.94. Ferguson plc has a 52-week low of $147.62 and a 52-week high of $225.63. The firm has a market cap of $42.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.75, a PEG ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.21.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.12. Ferguson had a net margin of 6.33% and a return on equity of 36.89%. The company had revenue of $7.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.77 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ferguson plc will post 9.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.54%.

Ferguson announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, June 4th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.