Aberdeen Group plc Trims Stock Position in Ferguson plc $FERG

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc reduced its holdings in Ferguson plc by 64.1%, owning 184,160 shares, worth approximately $29.51 million after selling 328,486 shares in the first quarter.
• Institutional investors now own 81.98% of Ferguson's stock, with Bank of New York Mellon Corp significantly increasing its stake by 24.5% to over $1.2 billion in value.
• Ferguson's quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $2.50, exceeding expectations, with a declared quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share translating to an annualized yield of 1.4%.

Aberdeen Group plc lowered its position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG - Free Report) by 64.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 184,160 shares of the company's stock after selling 328,486 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.09% of Ferguson worth $29,508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FERG. Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 281.5% during the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 3,956 shares of the company's stock valued at $687,000 after purchasing an additional 2,919 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Ferguson in the 4th quarter worth about $269,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ferguson by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,284 shares of the company's stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Ferguson by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,644,341 shares of the company's stock worth $285,408,000 after acquiring an additional 103,802 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Ferguson by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 683,678 shares of the company's stock worth $118,666,000 after acquiring an additional 197,084 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FERG. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $190.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Berenberg Bank reissued a "hold" rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Ferguson in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Ferguson from $189.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ferguson from $173.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $220.64.

Ferguson Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:FERG traded down $1.4730 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $229.0970. 770,871 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,702,358. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $45.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.16. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $222.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $190.46. Ferguson plc has a 1 year low of $146.00 and a 1 year high of $235.12.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 3rd. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.44. Ferguson had a net margin of 5.68% and a return on equity of 34.63%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.32 earnings per share. Ferguson's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ferguson plc will post 9.4 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 20th were given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 20th. Ferguson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.40%.

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.