196 Shares in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) Purchased by Peterson Financial Group Inc.

Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Asset Dedication LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ferguson during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in Ferguson in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Ferguson during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ferguson during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ferguson in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FERG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Ferguson from $211.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Ferguson from $229.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $234.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.38.

Ferguson Stock Performance

FERG opened at $199.94 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $199.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $203.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $40.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.63, a PEG ratio of 1.94 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) last issued 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 company had revenue of $7.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.01 billion. Ferguson had a net margin of 5.85% and a return on equity of 36.53%. Ferguson’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.77 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ferguson plc will post 9.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ferguson news, CAO Richard Winckler sold 1,325 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were 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 owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $201,750. This represents a 56.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Michael Jacobs sold 2,624 shares of Ferguson 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 in the company, valued at $224,271.36. This trade represents a 70.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,313 shares of company stock valued at $2,477,901. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.