Headlands Technologies LLC Sells 6,188 Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Headlands Technologies LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 21.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,058 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,188 shares during the quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $3,829,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FERG. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its stake in Ferguson by 944.4% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,537,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $613,944,000 after buying an additional 3,198,477 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ferguson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $469,730,000. Schroder Investment Management Group purchased a new position in shares of Ferguson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $239,539,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Ferguson by 2,384.2% during the fourth quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,071,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $185,993,000 after acquiring an additional 1,028,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 339.9% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 1,234,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,320,000 after purchasing an additional 954,092 shares during the period. 81.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Zelman & Associates downgraded Ferguson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Ferguson from $234.00 to $189.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $193.00 target price (down from $230.00) on shares of Ferguson in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 price target on shares of Ferguson and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.67.

Ferguson Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:FERG opened at $160.37 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.25, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28. Ferguson plc has a 52 week low of $152.52 and a 52 week high of $225.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $173.52 and a 200 day moving average of $187.49.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.76 billion. Ferguson had a return on equity of 34.63% and a net margin of 5.68%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ferguson plc will post 9.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.84%.

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.