Magnetar Financial LLC Trims Stake in Ferguson plc $FERG

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC sold 21,743 shares of Ferguson plc, reducing its holdings by 79% and leaving it with 5,792 shares valued at approximately $928,000.
• Large investors have shown significant activity, with T. Rowe Price increasing its stake by 101.1% and Wellington Management Group raising its stake by 769.5% in the first quarter.
• Analysts have a generally positive outlook on Ferguson, with ten analysts giving a "Buy" rating and a recent price target increase from Wells Fargo to $250.00.

Magnetar Financial LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG - Free Report) by 79.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,792 shares of the company's stock after selling 21,743 shares during the quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC's holdings in Ferguson were worth $928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FERG. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in Ferguson by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,214 shares of the company's stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Ferguson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $728,000. Armor Advisors L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Ferguson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $10,345,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Ferguson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,267,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 6,623 shares of the company's stock worth $1,150,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FERG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Ferguson from $189.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ferguson from $189.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. Berenberg Bank reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Ferguson in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ferguson from $190.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $220.64.

Ferguson Price Performance

Ferguson stock traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $229.91. 1,141,630 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,679,762. The company has a market cap of $45.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.60, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $225.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $193.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Ferguson plc has a 12-month low of $146.00 and a 12-month high of $238.16.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 3rd. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. The company's revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.32 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ferguson plc will post 9.4 earnings per share for the current 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.