Quilter Plc Trims Stock Position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Quilter Plc lessened its holdings in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 110,759 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,865 shares during the period. Quilter Plc owned 0.06% of Ferguson worth $19,224,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 40,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,024,000 after purchasing an additional 1,177 shares in the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Ferguson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Choreo LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 5,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,024,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 8,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,527,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. Finally, Brentview Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ferguson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,255,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on FERG shares. Bank of America raised shares of Ferguson from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Ferguson from $215.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $234.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $193.00 price target (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Ferguson from $221.00 to $189.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.73.

Ferguson Price Performance

FERG opened at $177.25 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $183.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $196.06. The firm has a market cap of $35.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.21, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.24. Ferguson plc has a twelve month low of $167.27 and a twelve month high of $225.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Ferguson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th were issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. This is a positive change from Ferguson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 20th. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.86%.

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.