Blair William & Co. IL Sells 5,289 Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Blair William & Co. IL reduced its stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 69,278 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,289 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $12,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FERG. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 32,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,359,000 after purchasing an additional 7,862 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Ferguson by 7.3% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Ferguson during the fourth quarter valued at $587,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Ferguson during the 3rd quarter worth about $970,000. Finally, Clean Yield Group raised its position in shares of Ferguson by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 25,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,506,000 after acquiring an additional 5,534 shares in the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ferguson Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FERG opened at $160.63 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $32.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.28, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.68. Ferguson plc has a fifty-two week low of $152.52 and a fifty-two week high of $225.63. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $173.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.71.

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

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is 40.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FERG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Zelman & Associates lowered Ferguson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $189.00 price objective on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $193.00 target price (down from $230.00) on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Ferguson from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.67.

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.