Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 103,802 Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG - Free Report) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,644,341 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 103,802 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.82% of Ferguson worth $285,408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of FERG. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Ferguson by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,007,892 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,740,049,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,889 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,991,445 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,039,935,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231,120 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $613,944,000 after purchasing an additional 3,198,477 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ferguson by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,215,657 shares of the company's stock worth $557,082,000 after purchasing an additional 18,036 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in Ferguson by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,804,595 shares of the company's stock valued at $486,814,000 after purchasing an additional 192,052 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on FERG. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ferguson from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Ferguson in a report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Ferguson in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "hold" rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $193.00 target price (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Ferguson in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Ferguson from $234.00 to $189.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Five 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, Ferguson presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.38.

Ferguson Stock Up 3.9 %

Shares of Ferguson stock traded up $6.30 on Thursday, reaching $169.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,851,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,578,835. Ferguson plc has a 52 week low of $146.00 and a 52 week high of $225.63. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $165.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $182.64. 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 has a market capitalization of $33.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.17.

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

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. Ferguson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.84%.

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.