Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) Price Target Cut to $220.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) had its price target cut by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $232.00 to $220.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 15.58% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on FERG. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $219.00 target price on shares of Ferguson in a report on Wednesday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ferguson from $229.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Ferguson from $230.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ferguson from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ferguson from $203.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.00.

Ferguson Stock Down 1.7 %

FERG opened at $190.35 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $203.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $202.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.80. Ferguson has a twelve month low of $180.98 and a twelve month high of $225.63. The firm has a market cap of $38.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.85, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.21.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.12. Ferguson had a net margin of 5.68% and a return on equity of 34.85%. The business had revenue of $7.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.77 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ferguson will post 9.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ferguson

In other Ferguson news, CAO Richard Winckler sold 1,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.75, for a total transaction of $267,318.75. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael Jacobs sold 2,624 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.96, for a total transaction of $527,319.04. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,116 shares in the company, valued at approximately $224,271.36. The trade was a 70.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,313 shares of company stock worth $2,477,901. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ferguson

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FERG. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,218,032,000 after acquiring an additional 4,966,821 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Ferguson by 423.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,462,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $290,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183,143 shares during the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Ferguson by 133.3% in the 3rd quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 700,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,999,000 after acquiring an additional 400,000 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Ferguson by 76.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 867,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,281,000 after acquiring an additional 377,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in shares of Ferguson in the 3rd quarter valued at about $63,420,000. 81.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.