Brown Advisory Inc. Grows Stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG - Free Report) by 3.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,431,492 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 77,936 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. owned about 1.22% of Ferguson worth $389,598,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FERG. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,782 shares of the company's stock valued at $928,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Ferguson by 24.0% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 3,393 shares of the company's stock valued at $544,000 after buying an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. raised its stake in Ferguson by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 106,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,398,000 after buying an additional 21,500 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ferguson by 40.3% in the first quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 35,015 shares of the company's stock worth $5,610,000 after acquiring an additional 10,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 19,616.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 573,143 shares of the company's stock worth $91,835,000 after acquiring an additional 570,236 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FERG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $220.00 target price (up from $195.00) on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "hold" rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research began coverage on Ferguson in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on Ferguson from $173.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Ferguson from $190.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ferguson has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $222.60.

Ferguson Stock Performance

FERG stock traded down $3.77 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $220.63. 1,092,810 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,680,671. Ferguson plc has a 1-year low of $146.00 and a 1-year high of $226.63. 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 stock's fifty day simple moving average is $200.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.20. The firm has a market cap of $43.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.49, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.17.

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

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 20th. Ferguson's payout ratio is 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.