Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Buys 1,485 Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 3.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 43,135 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,485 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $8,565,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 158,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,533,000 after acquiring an additional 4,924 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Ferguson in the third quarter worth $39,000. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ferguson in the third quarter worth $236,000. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Ferguson during the third quarter valued at $702,000. Finally, Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 46,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,324,000 after buying an additional 1,433 shares in the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on FERG. Barclays lifted their price target on Ferguson from $229.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $234.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ferguson from $211.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report 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 research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Ferguson from $203.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Richard Winckler sold 1,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.75, for a total transaction of $267,318.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $201,750. This trade represents a 56.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael Jacobs sold 2,624 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.96, for a total transaction of $527,319.04. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,271.36. This trade represents a 70.16 % decrease in their position. 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 ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ferguson Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Ferguson stock traded down $1.15 during trading on Monday, hitting $198.79. 138,015 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,263,231. Ferguson plc has a 52-week low of $164.22 and a 52-week high of $225.63. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $199.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $203.08. The firm has a market cap of $39.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

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. On average, equities analysts predict that Ferguson plc will post 9.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. Ferguson’s payout ratio is 37.05%.

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.