State Street Corp Has $905.23 Million Holdings in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,541,079 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 161,662 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $905,230,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FERG. Asset Dedication LLC bought a new stake in Ferguson in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in Ferguson by 1,350.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 145 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new position in Ferguson during the second quarter worth $32,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Ferguson in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ferguson during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. 81.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ferguson from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Ferguson from $203.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of 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 shares of Ferguson from $229.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $234.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ferguson

In other news, CAO Richard Winckler sold 1,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.75, for a total value of $267,318.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $201,750. This trade represents a 56.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael Jacobs sold 2,624 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.96, for a total transaction of $527,319.04. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,271.36. This represents a 70.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,313 shares of company stock valued at $2,477,901 in the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ferguson Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FERG opened at $216.93 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $43.55 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $203.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $202.68. Ferguson plc has a twelve month low of $175.42 and a twelve month high of $225.63.

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

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.05%.

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.