Brokerages Set Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) PT at $230.00

Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $230.00.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FERG shares. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Ferguson from $232.00 to $229.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $217.00 to $211.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $238.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th.

Institutional Trading of Ferguson

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Ferguson by 375.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,289,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,218,032,000 after purchasing an additional 4,966,821 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ferguson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $988,852,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Ferguson by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,714,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $524,014,000 after purchasing an additional 118,894 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in Ferguson by 44.9% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,371,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $457,905,000 after purchasing an additional 735,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Ferguson by 589.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,619,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,778,000 after purchasing an additional 1,384,570 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Ferguson Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FERG opened at $193.07 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.68. The company has a fifty day moving average of $203.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.99 billion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a P/E/G ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.21. Ferguson has a fifty-two week low of $147.62 and a fifty-two week high of $225.63.

Ferguson announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 4th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.