Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Raises Stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 158,801 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,924 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Ferguson were worth $31,533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Ferguson by 303.7% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $904,000 after buying an additional 3,423 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ferguson in the second quarter worth $2,834,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Ferguson during the first quarter valued at $26,379,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Ferguson by 1,835.1% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 7,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,697,000 after purchasing an additional 7,377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP raised its stake in Ferguson by 66.2% during the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 51,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,256,000 after purchasing an additional 20,580 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FERG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Ferguson from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ferguson from $229.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Ferguson from $203.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ferguson from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Ferguson in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $234.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ferguson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ferguson news, insider Ian T. Graham sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.27, for a total transaction of $1,162,938.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,195,141.26. This represents a 49.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael Jacobs sold 2,624 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.96, for a total transaction of $527,319.04. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,271.36. The trade was a 70.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,313 shares of company stock worth $2,477,901 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Ferguson Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Ferguson stock opened at $201.93 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Ferguson plc has a 1 year low of $164.22 and a 1 year high of $225.63. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $199.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $202.89. The stock has a market cap of $40.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.67, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.20.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.77 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. Ferguson’s payout ratio is 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.