Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) Stock Price

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) had its price target decreased by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $232.00 to $220.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 13.25% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on FERG. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Ferguson from $230.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $229.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. UBS Group lifted 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $219.00 price objective on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $234.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.25.

Ferguson Trading Down 0.3 %

FERG stock traded down $0.68 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $194.26. The company had a trading volume of 843,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,299,250. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $39.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.68, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $202.61. Ferguson has a 52-week low of $180.98 and a 52-week high of $225.63.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.12. Ferguson had a net margin of 5.85% and a return on equity of 36.53%. The business had revenue of $7.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.77 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ferguson will post 9.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ferguson

In related news, CAO Richard Winckler sold 1,325 shares of the company’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 transaction of $267,318.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $201,750. This represents a 56.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ian T. Graham sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.27, for a total transaction of $1,162,938.06. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,938 shares in the company, valued at $1,195,141.26. The trade was a 49.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,313 shares of company stock valued at $2,477,901 over the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ferguson

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Ferguson by 6.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,371,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,858,000 after acquiring an additional 133,769 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Ferguson during the third quarter worth approximately $66,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ferguson during the third quarter worth approximately $112,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Ferguson during the third quarter worth approximately $970,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ferguson by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,197,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $633,409,000 after acquiring an additional 25,677 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Ferguson Company 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.