Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 40,557 Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its holdings in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 18,362,025 shares of the company’s stock after selling 40,557 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.09% of Ferguson worth $3,187,097,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ferguson by 32.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 32,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,359,000 after purchasing an additional 7,862 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ferguson by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 778,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,247,000 after acquiring an additional 52,776 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ferguson during the 4th quarter valued at $587,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Ferguson during the third quarter worth $970,000. Finally, Clean Yield Group grew its holdings in Ferguson by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 25,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,506,000 after purchasing an additional 5,534 shares during the period. 81.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on FERG shares. Zelman & Associates cut shares of Ferguson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Ferguson from $234.00 to $189.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Bank of America upgraded Ferguson from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $225.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Ferguson from $189.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $205.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ferguson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.67.

Ferguson Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FERG opened at $165.30 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.05 billion, a PE ratio of 19.84, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $174.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.23. Ferguson plc has a twelve month low of $152.52 and a twelve month high of $225.63.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.58 by ($0.06). Ferguson had a return on equity of 34.63% and a net margin of 5.68%. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ferguson plc will post 9.4 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.84%.

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.