James Hambro & Partners LLP Buys Shares of 6,241 Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

James Hambro & Partners LLP bought a new position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 6,241 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,254,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 375.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,289,864 shares of the company's stock worth $1,218,032,000 after acquiring an additional 4,966,821 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 589.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,619,637 shares of the company's stock worth $353,778,000 after acquiring an additional 1,384,570 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,563,558 shares of the company's stock worth $302,781,000 after acquiring an additional 153,757 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 1,104,289 shares of the company's stock worth $213,846,000 after acquiring an additional 15,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 967,849 shares of the company's stock worth $187,424,000 after acquiring an additional 18,504 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Ferguson from $203.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ferguson from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Ferguson from $211.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays lifted their target price on Ferguson from $229.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Ferguson from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $232.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ferguson

In other Ferguson news, CMO Victoria Morrissey sold 1,468 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.20, for a total transaction of $295,361.60. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 5,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,047,246. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Richard Winckler sold 1,325 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.75, for a total value of $267,318.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $201,750. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Victoria Morrissey sold 1,468 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.20, for a total value of $295,361.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 5,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,047,246. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,313 shares of company stock worth $2,477,901. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ferguson Stock Down 2.4 %

FERG stock traded down $4.81 on Monday, hitting $199.67. 1,347,658 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,266,148. Ferguson plc has a 12-month low of $147.62 and a 12-month high of $225.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $200.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $204.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market cap of $40.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.20.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $7.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.01 billion. Ferguson had a return on equity of 36.53% and a net margin of 5.85%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.77 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ferguson plc will post 9.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. Ferguson's payout ratio is presently 37.05%.

Ferguson Company 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.