Victory Capital Management Inc. Acquires 78,775 Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG - Free Report) by 47.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 245,014 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 78,775 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.12% of Ferguson worth $48,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bleakley Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Ferguson during the first quarter worth about $260,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 9,313 shares of the company's stock worth $2,034,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Ferguson by 9.9% during the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 66,250 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,499,000 after purchasing an additional 5,957 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its stake in Ferguson by 0.3% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 137,531 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,019,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its holdings in Ferguson by 7.1% during the first quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 28,966 shares of the company's stock worth $6,327,000 after buying an additional 1,908 shares in the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ferguson Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of FERG traded down $3.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $199.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,167,083 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,303,187. The company has a 50 day moving average of $199.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $203.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $40.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.20. Ferguson plc has a 1-year low of $163.03 and a 1-year high of $225.63.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $7.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.01 billion. Ferguson had a net margin of 5.85% and a return on equity of 36.53%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.77 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Ferguson plc will post 9.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. Ferguson's payout ratio is 37.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ferguson

In other Ferguson news, CAO Richard Winckler sold 1,325 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.75, for a total transaction of $267,318.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $201,750. This represents a 56.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael Jacobs sold 2,624 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.96, for a total value of $527,319.04. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,116 shares of the company's stock, valued at $224,271.36. This represents a 70.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,313 shares of company stock worth $2,477,901 over the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $234.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Ferguson from $211.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays lifted their price target on Ferguson from $229.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $203.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Ferguson from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $233.38.

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.