Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) Stock Holdings Decreased by Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd decreased its stake in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 27.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,349 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $2,651,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new position in Ferguson during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,453,000. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Ferguson by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 172,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,833,000 after acquiring an additional 13,150 shares in the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP bought a new position in Ferguson during the third quarter worth $9,966,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ferguson by 3.8% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 34,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,778,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 1.7% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 31,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,227,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the period. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on FERG shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Ferguson from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ferguson from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Ferguson from $211.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays upped their price objective on Ferguson from $229.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Ferguson from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.38.

Ferguson Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Ferguson stock opened at $213.27 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $201.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $202.52. The firm has a market cap of $42.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.20. Ferguson plc has a fifty-two week low of $166.21 and a fifty-two week high of $225.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.12. Ferguson had a net margin of 5.85% and a return on equity of 36.53%. The company had revenue of $7.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.77 EPS. Ferguson’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ferguson plc will post 9.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.05%.

Insider Activity

In other Ferguson news, SVP Garland Williams sold 1,118 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.22, for a total transaction of $224,963.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $378,696.04. This represents a 37.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Richard Winckler sold 1,325 shares of Ferguson stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.75, for a total transaction of $267,318.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $201,750. This trade represents a 56.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,313 shares of company stock worth $2,477,901. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

About Ferguson

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.