Ferguson plc $FERG Shares Purchased by Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,456 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,383 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $18,390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ferguson by 101.1% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,165,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $667,498,000 after acquiring an additional 2,094,029 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in 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 valued at $713,740,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755,464 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Ferguson by 769.5% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,266,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,004,000 after purchasing an additional 1,121,249 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Ferguson by 13.8% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,818,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,092,576,000 after purchasing an additional 827,355 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ferguson by 4.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,168,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,071,408,000 after purchasing an additional 806,718 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Ferguson from $235.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Ferguson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Ferguson from $231.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ferguson from $204.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $247.00 to $273.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.75.

Ferguson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FERG opened at $236.34 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $46.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s 50-day moving average is $236.92. Ferguson plc has a 1-year low of $146.00 and a 1-year high of $256.93.

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

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 26th were issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 26th. Ferguson’s payout ratio is 35.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $145,033.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,846,191.62. The trade was a 7.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO William Brundage sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $12,279,864.92. This trade represents a 5.39% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,264 shares of company stock worth $6,853,349. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.