Bank of Montreal Can Cuts Stock Position in Ferguson plc $FERG

Bank of Montreal Can cut its holdings in Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG) by 17.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 167,853 shares of the company’s stock after selling 35,295 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.09% of Ferguson worth $36,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FERG. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 101.1% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,165,873 shares of the company’s stock worth $667,498,000 after buying an additional 2,094,029 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 65.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,454,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $713,740,000 after buying an additional 1,755,464 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 769.5% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,266,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,004,000 after buying an additional 1,121,249 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 1,036.1% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,020,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,518,000 after buying an additional 930,696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 29.6% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,635,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $582,452,000 after buying an additional 831,112 shares in the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on FERG. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $247.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Ferguson from $235.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ferguson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Ferguson from $231.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $240.80.

Ferguson Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:FERG opened at $249.02 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $234.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Ferguson plc has a 12-month low of $146.00 and a 12-month high of $252.52. The firm has a market cap of $48.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.18.

Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 16th. The company reported $3.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. Ferguson had a return on equity of 35.21% and a net margin of 6.03%.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 26th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 26th. Ferguson’s payout ratio is currently 35.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Kevin Michael Murphy sold 8,800 shares of Ferguson stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.13, for a total value of $2,060,344.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 159,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,444,645.03. The trade was a 5.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO William Brundage sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.32, for a total value of $699,960.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 52,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,279,864.92. The trade was a 5.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,264 shares of company stock worth $6,853,349. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Ferguson

Ferguson Enterprises Inc distributes plumbing and heating products in North America. The company provides expertise, solutions, and products, including infrastructure, plumbing, appliances, fire, and fabrication, as well as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) to residential and non-residential customers.