Blair William & Co. IL Cuts Stock Position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Blair William & Co. IL lowered its position in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG - Free Report) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,541,079 shares of the company's stock worth $905,230,000 after purchasing an additional 161,662 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 944.4% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,537,155 shares of the company's stock valued at $613,944,000 after buying an additional 3,198,477 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ferguson by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,197,621 shares of the company's stock worth $633,409,000 after buying an additional 25,677 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Ferguson by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,371,954 shares of the company's stock worth $477,858,000 after buying an additional 133,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ferguson by 24.5% during the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,111,673 shares of the company's stock valued at $366,523,000 after acquiring an additional 415,002 shares during the period. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FERG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Ferguson and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price 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. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $193.00 price target (down from $230.00) on shares of Ferguson in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Ferguson from $234.00 to $189.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Bank of America raised Ferguson from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $185.00 to $225.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ferguson currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $198.62.

Ferguson Price Performance

FERG stock traded up $3.37 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $164.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 421,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,507,271. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company's fifty day moving average is $173.08 and its 200-day moving average is $187.26. The company has a market capitalization of $32.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28. Ferguson plc has a 1 year low of $152.52 and a 1 year high of $225.63.

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

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. Ferguson's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.84%.

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.