Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) Shares Sold by Perpetual Ltd

Perpetual Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 9.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 58,155 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,965 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $12,703,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ferguson in the fourth quarter valued at about $988,852,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Ferguson by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,714,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,014,000 after buying an additional 118,894 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in Ferguson by 44.9% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,371,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $457,905,000 after acquiring an additional 735,270 shares during the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ferguson by 58.4% in the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,872,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $361,594,000 after acquiring an additional 690,643 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Ferguson by 6.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,693,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,524,000 after acquiring an additional 99,758 shares during the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ferguson Price Performance

FERG opened at $196.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $39.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.33, a PEG ratio of 8.44 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $210.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $202.33. Ferguson plc has a 12-month low of $147.62 and a 12-month high of $224.86.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 4th. The company reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $7.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.32 billion. Ferguson had a net margin of 6.33% and a return on equity of 36.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.20 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ferguson plc will post 9.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. Ferguson’s payout ratio is 34.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Ferguson from $217.00 to $211.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Ferguson from $236.00 to $232.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ferguson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.50.

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.