Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Sells 7,111 Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. decreased its holdings in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG - Free Report) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 72,518 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,111 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Ferguson were worth $12,701,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted 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 worth $290,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183,143 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Ferguson by 7,632.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 677,684 shares of the company's stock worth $117,626,000 after purchasing an additional 668,920 shares during the period. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP boosted its stake in Ferguson by 133.3% in the 3rd quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 700,000 shares of the company's stock worth $138,999,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Ferguson by 76.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 867,593 shares of the company's stock worth $172,281,000 after purchasing an additional 377,283 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Ferguson by 910.3% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 366,015 shares of the company's stock worth $63,529,000 after purchasing an additional 329,786 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.98% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Ferguson from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Ferguson from $215.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Ferguson from $221.00 to $189.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Ferguson from $234.00 to $211.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $234.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $217.73.

Ferguson Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of Ferguson stock traded down $3.65 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $181.85. 1,226,801 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,409,584. The company has a market cap of $36.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.24. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $179.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.35. 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 52 week low of $167.27 and a 52 week high of $225.63.

Ferguson Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th were issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 20th. This is an increase from Ferguson's previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. Ferguson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.86%.

About Ferguson

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.