Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 1,247 Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,138 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,247 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $6,778,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kennedy Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ferguson in the 1st quarter valued at $216,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ferguson in the 1st quarter valued at $3,469,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 33.2% in the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $866,000 after purchasing an additional 989 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 327,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,451,000 after purchasing an additional 2,703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 18.3% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 7,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,593,000 after purchasing an additional 1,126 shares during the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on FERG shares. Barclays upped their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Ferguson from $211.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Ferguson from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ferguson from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ferguson from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ferguson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.38.

Ferguson Stock Performance

FERG opened at $216.04 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $201.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $202.58. Ferguson plc has a 1-year low of $166.21 and a 1-year high of $225.63. The company has a market cap of $43.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.20.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Ferguson had a net margin of 5.85% and a return on equity of 36.53%. The firm had revenue of $7.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.77 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Ferguson plc will post 9.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Ferguson’s payout ratio is 37.05%.

Insider Transactions at Ferguson

In other news, insider Ian T. Graham sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.27, for a total value of $1,162,938.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,938 shares in the company, valued at $1,195,141.26. This represents a 49.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Garland Williams sold 1,118 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.22, for a total transaction of $224,963.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $378,696.04. The trade was a 37.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,313 shares of company stock worth $2,477,901 in the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.