First Eagle Investment Management LLC Takes Position in Ferguson plc $FERG

First Eagle Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 600,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,650,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ferguson by 24.0% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 3,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $544,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ferguson by 30.6% in the first quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $680,000 after purchasing an additional 995 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in Ferguson by 56.5% during the first quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 205 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its position in Ferguson by 12.4% during the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 4,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $684,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ferguson by 3,777.8% during the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,810,000 after purchasing an additional 17,000 shares during the period. 81.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ferguson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FERG opened at $246.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Ferguson plc has a 1-year low of $146.00 and a 1-year high of $252.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $234.88.

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

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Ferguson news, insider Ian T. Graham sold 606 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.33, for a total value of $145,033.98. Following the transaction, the insider owned 7,714 shares in the company, valued at $1,846,191.62. The trade was a 7.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO William Brundage sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.32, for a total value of $699,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 52,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,279,864.92. This represents a 5.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 29,264 shares of company stock worth $6,853,349 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FERG. Vertical Research assumed coverage on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Monday, October 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $291.99 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ferguson from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Ferguson from $260.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Ferguson from $247.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $240.80.

Ferguson 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.