Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 31,245 Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 23.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 167,324 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,245 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.08% of Ferguson worth $29,156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of FERG. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 944.4% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,537,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $613,944,000 after purchasing an additional 3,198,477 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ferguson by 339.9% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 1,234,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,320,000 after buying an additional 954,092 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Ferguson by 7,632.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 677,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,626,000 after buying an additional 668,920 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ferguson by 24.5% in the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,111,673 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,523,000 after buying an additional 415,002 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ferguson by 27.4% in the 4th quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,799,055 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,262,000 after acquiring an additional 386,403 shares in the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ferguson Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of FERG stock opened at $160.63 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Ferguson plc has a 12-month low of $152.52 and a 12-month high of $225.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $173.86 and its 200 day moving average is $187.70.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.76 billion. Ferguson had a return on equity of 34.63% and a net margin of 5.68%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Ferguson plc will post 9.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on FERG shares. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $189.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Bank of America raised Ferguson from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 target price on Ferguson and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $189.00 price target on shares of Ferguson in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Ferguson from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ferguson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.67.

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.