Ferguson plc $FERG Position Boosted by National Pension Service

National Pension Service boosted its holdings in Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 337,408 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,849 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.17% of Ferguson worth $80,077,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raiffeisen Bank International AG boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 350,745.0% in the fourth quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 522,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,382,000 after buying an additional 522,610 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 88.5% in the 2nd quarter. Saudi Central Bank now owns 13,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,229,000 after buying an additional 6,389 shares in the last quarter. Marsico Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ferguson during the 4th quarter worth $11,017,000. Lmcg Investments LLC bought a new position in Ferguson during the first quarter valued at about $1,806,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Ferguson by 13.2% in the second quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 96,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,932,000 after buying an additional 11,196 shares during the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FERG. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Ferguson from $281.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Ferguson from $285.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Ferguson from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Ferguson from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $315.00 to $265.00 in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Ferguson from $252.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ferguson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $285.57.

Ferguson Price Performance

Shares of FERG stock opened at $222.75 on Friday. Ferguson plc has a 12 month low of $207.64 and a 12 month high of $271.64. The company has a market capitalization of $43.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $234.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $237.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $3.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $8.75 billion during the quarter. Ferguson had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 6.82%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ferguson plc will post 11.42 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.89 per share. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. Ferguson’s payout ratio is 41.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ferguson

In other news, insider Jake Schlicher sold 5,177 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.92, for a total value of $1,195,472.84. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,191,430.80. This represents a 35.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

About Ferguson

Ferguson plc (NYSE: FERG) is a value-added distributor of plumbing and heating products, water and wastewater solutions, fire protection equipment, HVAC supplies, and related products. The company primarily serves professional contractors and other trade customers, helping them source products, obtain technical support, and manage projects through its distribution network and digital platforms.

Ferguson operates mainly in North America, with businesses serving residential and commercial construction, infrastructure, facilities maintenance, and industrial markets in the United States and Canada.