BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Buys New Position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 34,411 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,833,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Ferguson by 303.7% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $904,000 after buying an additional 3,423 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ferguson during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,834,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Ferguson during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,379,000. Entropy Technologies LP boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 66.2% in the 3rd quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 51,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,256,000 after purchasing an additional 20,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 380.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 159,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,309,000 after buying an additional 126,242 shares during the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FERG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ferguson from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Ferguson from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Ferguson from $211.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Ferguson in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $234.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Ferguson from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.38.

Insider Transactions at Ferguson

In related news, SVP Garland Williams sold 1,118 shares of Ferguson stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.22, for a total transaction of $224,963.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $378,696.04. The trade was a 37.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Michael Jacobs sold 2,624 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.96, for a total value of $527,319.04. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $224,271.36. This represents a 70.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,313 shares of company stock worth $2,477,901 in the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ferguson Stock Performance

FERG stock opened at $208.94 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Ferguson plc has a 1 year low of $166.21 and a 1 year high of $225.63. The company has a market cap of $41.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $200.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $202.61.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.12. Ferguson had a return on equity of 36.53% and a net margin of 5.85%. The business had revenue of $7.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.77 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ferguson plc will post 9.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. Ferguson’s payout ratio is presently 37.05%.

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.