34,700 Shares in Ferguson plc $FERG Acquired by FORA Capital LLC

Key Points

• FORA Capital LLC has acquired a new position in Ferguson plc, purchasing 34,700 shares valued at approximately $5.56 million.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Ferguson, with Wells Fargo raising its target to $250 and Morgan Stanley to $220, reflecting positive sentiment among investment firms.
• Ferguson reported a Q2 EPS of $2.50, exceeding estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.83, with a yield of 1.4% and a payout ratio of 41.4%.

FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 34,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,560,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 4.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,168,743 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,071,408,000 after acquiring an additional 806,718 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Ferguson by 24.5% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,660,299 shares of the company's stock worth $1,227,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506,024 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Ferguson by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,818,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,092,576,000 after purchasing an additional 827,355 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Ferguson by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,935,419 shares of the company's stock valued at $856,746,000 after purchasing an additional 62,887 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Ferguson by 65.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,454,467 shares of the company's stock worth $713,740,000 after buying an additional 1,755,464 shares in the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FERG has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Ferguson from $189.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $220.00 price target (up from $195.00) on shares of Ferguson in a report on Monday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ferguson from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Berenberg Bank restated a "hold" rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Ferguson in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $220.64.

Ferguson Trading Down 0.5%

Ferguson stock traded down $1.17 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $233.95. The stock had a trading volume of 778,898 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,685,232. Ferguson plc has a twelve month low of $146.00 and a twelve month high of $238.16. 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 $46.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.09, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.16. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $224.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $192.60.

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

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.