Perpetual Ltd Purchases 3,661 Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Perpetual Ltd boosted its position in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 47,828 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,661 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $8,302,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FERG. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Ferguson by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,468,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,668,462,000 after purchasing an additional 288,935 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Ferguson by 3.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,541,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $905,230,000 after buying an additional 161,662 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,197,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $633,409,000 after acquiring an additional 25,677 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,371,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,858,000 after acquiring an additional 133,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Ferguson by 423.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,462,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $290,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183,143 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on FERG. Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Ferguson from $221.00 to $189.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Ferguson from $230.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer began coverage on Ferguson in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $234.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Ferguson from $234.00 to $211.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.10.

Ferguson Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FERG opened at $182.28 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $190.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $198.08. Ferguson plc has a 1 year low of $167.27 and a 1 year high of $225.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $36.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.24.

Ferguson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a positive change from Ferguson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 20th. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is 39.86%.

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.