Arizona State Retirement System Sells 4,559 Shares of Ferguson plc $FERG

Key Points

• Arizona State Retirement System sold 4,559 shares of Ferguson, reducing its stake by 7.8% to 53,858 shares worth about $11.99 million, according to its latest 13F filing.
• Several large institutions boosted or opened positions—Durable Capital bought a new ~$244.6M stake and Qube, Wellington and others added hundreds of thousands of shares—leaving roughly 82% of the stock held by institutions.
• Ferguson missed Q3 EPS ($1.99 vs. $2.24 consensus) amid modest revenue growth; the company has a ~$51.2B market cap, P/E ~26.6, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.89 (≈1.4% yield).

Arizona State Retirement System cut its holdings in Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG - Free Report) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,858 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,559 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Ferguson were worth $11,990,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Durable Capital Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ferguson in the third quarter worth $244,561,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in shares of Ferguson by 588.1% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,087,523 shares of the company's stock worth $244,236,000 after purchasing an additional 929,475 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Ferguson by 22.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,734,911 shares of the company's stock worth $838,786,000 after purchasing an additional 682,666 shares in the last quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Ferguson by 114.7% in the third quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP now owns 1,255,137 shares of the company's stock worth $281,879,000 after purchasing an additional 670,473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ferguson by 502.8% in the third quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 765,725 shares of the company's stock worth $171,967,000 after purchasing an additional 638,692 shares in the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ferguson Stock Performance

Ferguson stock opened at $263.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Ferguson plc has a 1-year low of $165.10 and a 1-year high of $271.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.21. The company's 50-day moving average is $243.77 and its 200 day moving average is $243.02.

Ferguson (NYSE:FERG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.24 by ($0.25). Ferguson had a return on equity of 40.37% and a net margin of 6.93%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Ferguson plc will post 11.14 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.89 per share. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Ferguson's payout ratio is currently 35.96%.

Key Ferguson News

Here are the key news stories impacting Ferguson this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Barron’s published a bullish note arguing Ferguson’s shares remain undervalued and could gain roughly 25% over the next 12–18 months, citing the company’s scale in plumbing/hVAC distribution and margin recovery potential. This Plumbing Supplier's Stock Is Still Too Cheap
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recent headlines mentioning “Ferguson” relate to people or the city of Ferguson (local government votes on data-center tax breaks, celebrity stories) and are unrelated to Ferguson plc’s business — these can create noise but not company-specific fundamental impact. Representative example: local data-center vote coverage. Ferguson delays vote on tax incentives for $1.8B data center project
• Negative Sentiment: Ferguson reported Q3 results that missed EPS expectations (reported $1.99 vs. $2.24 consensus) and showed modest revenue growth; that earnings miss is a near-term driver of downward pressure and investor caution. Key fundamentals from public filings and market pages: net margin ~6.9%, ROE ~40%, P/E ~26.6 and a PEG ~2.13 — factors investors watch for growth/valuation trade-offs. Ferguson Stock Profile

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on FERG. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Ferguson from $247.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ferguson from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ferguson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ferguson from $220.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $267.27.

Ferguson Company Profile

Ferguson NYSE: FERG is a multinational distributor specializing in plumbing and heating products and related building supplies, serving professional contractors, builders and industrial customers. The company supplies a broad range of products used in residential, commercial and infrastructure projects, including pipes and fittings, valves and controls, HVAC equipment, waterworks materials, plumbing fixtures, pumps and accessories, as well as complementary electrical and specialty product lines.

Ferguson operates a network of branches and distribution centers that provide inventory, logistics and value-added services to trade customers.

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