Ferguson plc $FERG Shares Sold by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG) by 0.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 46,673 shares of the company’s stock after selling 94 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $10,163,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 101.1% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,165,873 shares of the company’s stock worth $667,498,000 after acquiring an additional 2,094,029 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 65.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,454,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $713,740,000 after acquiring an additional 1,755,464 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 24.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,660,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,227,410,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506,024 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 94.6% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,402,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $384,957,000 after acquiring an additional 1,167,751 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 769.5% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,266,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,004,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121,249 shares during the period. 81.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on FERG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Ferguson from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ferguson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Zacks Research raised shares of Ferguson to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Ferguson from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Saturday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $240.80.

Ferguson Price Performance

FERG stock opened at $249.40 on Monday. Ferguson plc has a 12 month low of $146.00 and a 12 month high of $251.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.70, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.17. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $232.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, September 16th. The company reported $3.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.48. Ferguson had a net margin of 6.03% and a return on equity of 35.21%. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 26th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Ferguson’s payout ratio is currently 35.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ferguson

In other news, CAO Richard Winckler sold 1,034 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.70, for a total transaction of $240,611.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 1,458 shares in the company, valued at $339,276.60. The trade was a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ian T. Graham sold 606 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.33, for a total transaction of $145,033.98. Following the sale, the insider owned 7,714 shares in the company, valued at $1,846,191.62. This represents a 7.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,264 shares of company stock valued at $6,853,349 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ferguson Company Profile

Ferguson Enterprises Inc distributes plumbing and heating products in North America. The company provides expertise, solutions, and products, including infrastructure, plumbing, appliances, fire, and fabrication, as well as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) to residential and non-residential customers.