Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) Shares Sold by State of Michigan Retirement System

State of Michigan Retirement System cut its stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 10.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $678,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of FERG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ferguson in the fourth quarter worth $988,852,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in 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 worth $1,218,032,000 after acquiring an additional 4,966,821 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Ferguson by 589.0% during the 1st 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 during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Ferguson by 44.9% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,371,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $457,905,000 after purchasing an additional 735,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ferguson by 58.4% during the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,872,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $361,594,000 after purchasing an additional 690,643 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on Ferguson from $232.00 to $229.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $238.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $217.00 to $211.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ferguson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.00.

Ferguson Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of FERG stock opened at $205.71 on Friday. Ferguson plc has a twelve month low of $147.62 and a twelve month high of $225.63. The stock has a market cap of $41.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.48, a P/E/G ratio of 6.47 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $203.48 and a 200 day moving average of $207.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

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

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Ferguson’s payout ratio is 34.54%.

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.