C WorldWide Group Holding A S Purchases 550 Shares of Ferguson plc $FERG

C WorldWide Group Holding A S lifted its position in shares of Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 256,392 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the quarter. Ferguson makes up 0.8% of C WorldWide Group Holding A S’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. C WorldWide Group Holding A S’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $55,829,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,168,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,071,408,000 after acquiring an additional 806,718 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,687,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,673,977,000 after acquiring an additional 27,312 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,818,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,092,576,000 after acquiring an additional 827,355 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 65.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,755,464 shares during the period. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 101.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,094,029 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ferguson

In other Ferguson news, CAO Richard Winckler sold 1,034 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.70, for a total value of $240,611.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 1,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,276.60. This trade represents a 41.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 52,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,279,864.92. The trade was a 5.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,264 shares of company stock worth $6,853,349. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Ferguson from $231.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ferguson from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Ferguson from $235.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Ferguson from $260.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Ferguson to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $240.80.

Ferguson Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE FERG opened at $249.02 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $234.63. Ferguson plc has a 52 week low of $146.00 and a 52 week high of $252.52. The company has a market cap of $48.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.18. 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 (NYSE:FERG) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Ferguson had a return on equity of 35.21% and a net margin of 6.03%.The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.44 billion.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 26th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 26th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.55%.

Ferguson Profile

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.