Brown Shipley& Co Ltd Invests $205,000 in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Brown Shipley& Co Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FERG. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Ferguson by 303.7% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $904,000 after purchasing an additional 3,423 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ferguson in the second quarter worth approximately $2,834,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Ferguson in the first quarter worth approximately $26,379,000. Entropy Technologies LP lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 66.2% during the 3rd quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 51,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,256,000 after acquiring an additional 20,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Ferguson by 380.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 159,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,309,000 after acquiring an additional 126,242 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ferguson news, SVP Garland Williams sold 1,118 shares of Ferguson stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.22, for a total value of $224,963.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,882 shares in the company, valued at $378,696.04. The trade was a 37.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 5,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,195,141.26. The trade was a 49.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,313 shares of company stock worth $2,477,901 in the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ferguson Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:FERG opened at $213.27 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $201.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $202.52. Ferguson plc has a one year low of $166.21 and a one year high of $225.63. The firm has a market cap of $42.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.80.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $7.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.01 billion. Ferguson had a net margin of 5.85% and a return on equity of 36.53%. Ferguson’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.77 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. Ferguson’s payout ratio is 37.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on FERG. UBS Group increased their target price on Ferguson from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ferguson from $211.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $229.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $234.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Ferguson from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.38.

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.