Paloma Partners Management Co Invests $3.21 Million in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 16,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,214,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FERG. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 144.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 11,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,578,000 after buying an additional 6,982 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ferguson by 48.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 4,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,008,000 after acquiring an additional 1,510 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Ferguson by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,209,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Ferguson by 16.2% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ferguson

In other Ferguson news, insider Ian T. Graham sold 5,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.27, for a total value of $1,162,938.06. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,938 shares in the company, valued at $1,195,141.26. This trade represents a 49.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Victoria Morrissey sold 1,468 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.20, for a total transaction of $295,361.60. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 5,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,047,246. The trade was a 22.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,313 shares of company stock worth $2,477,901 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FERG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. 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 note on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Ferguson from $211.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Ferguson from $203.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Ferguson from $229.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.38.

Ferguson Stock Performance

FERG opened at $215.93 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $201.96 and a 200-day moving average of $202.53. 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 plc has a 52-week low of $167.09 and a 52-week high of $225.63. The company has a market cap of $43.35 billion, a PE ratio of 22.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.21.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $7.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.77 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ferguson plc will post 9.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is 37.05%.

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.