Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) SVP Garland Williams Sells 1,118 Shares

Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) SVP Garland Williams sold 1,118 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.22, for a total transaction of $224,963.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $378,696.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Ferguson Stock Up 1.4 %

Ferguson stock opened at $202.83 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $200.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $205.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.80. 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 $40.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.78, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.20.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.77 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Ferguson plc will post 9.86 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. Ferguson’s payout ratio is 37.05%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ferguson

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FERG. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 375.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,289,864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,218,032,000 after buying an additional 4,966,821 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in 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 worth $353,778,000 after acquiring an additional 1,384,570 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Ferguson by 10.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,563,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,781,000 after acquiring an additional 153,757 shares during the period. First Pacific Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 1.4% during the second quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 1,104,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,846,000 after acquiring an additional 15,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 1.9% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 967,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,424,000 after acquiring an additional 18,504 shares in the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on FERG shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on Ferguson from $229.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Ferguson from $238.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Ferguson from $211.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Ferguson from $203.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $232.29.

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.