Insider Selling: Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) Insider Sells $70,493.00 in Stock

Key Points

• Ferguson insider Jake Schlicher sold 314 shares for $70,493 at an average price of $224.50 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing his position by 3.51% to 8,621 shares.
• Schlicher has made several recent sales totaling more than $2 million, while other executives’ transactions brought reported insider selling to roughly $6 million; however, insiders retained substantial holdings.
• Ferguson shares traded at $231.74, while the company’s latest earnings exceeded expectations at $3.39 per share versus $3.23 forecast. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $285.78, and the company pays a $0.89 quarterly dividend.

Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG - Get Free Report) insider Jake Schlicher sold 314 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.50, for a total transaction of $70,493.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 8,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,414.50. This trade represents a 3.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Jake Schlicher also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, October 14th, Jake Schlicher sold 217 shares of Ferguson stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.63, for a total transaction of $47,876.71.
• On Monday, October 12th, Jake Schlicher sold 3,138 shares of Ferguson stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.74, for a total transaction of $686,406.12.
• On Friday, August 28th, Jake Schlicher sold 5,177 shares of Ferguson stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.92, for a total value of $1,195,472.84.

Ferguson Price Performance

NYSE FERG traded up $2.98 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $231.74. 348,936 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,679,277. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $228.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $234.55. Ferguson plc has a 1 year low of $212.13 and a 1 year high of $271.64. The company has a market cap of $44.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.14.

Ferguson (NYSE:FERG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $3.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $8.75 billion during the quarter. Ferguson had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 6.82%. On average, analysts predict that Ferguson plc will post 11.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.89 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Ferguson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.83%.

Trending Headlines about Ferguson

Here are the key news stories impacting Ferguson this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Ferguson’s prior quarterly results exceeded expectations, with earnings per share of $3.39 versus the $3.23 consensus estimate. Analysts maintain a generally bullish outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $285.78. Ferguson analyst and earnings information
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple executives, including COO William Thees Jr., VP Anthony Camposano, Ian Graham, Jake Schlicher and Kevin Murphy, completed additional sales on October 14–15. The sellers retained substantial holdings, suggesting the transactions may reflect routine portfolio diversification rather than a broad loss of confidence in Ferguson’s business. SEC insider transaction filing
• Negative Sentiment: Recent filings show significant aggregate insider selling, including Kevin Murphy’s sale of 11,259 shares for approximately $2.44 million on October 12 and CFO William Brundage’s sale of 5,986 shares worth about $1.31 million. Additional sales by other executives bring the recent reported total to roughly $6 million, potentially weighing on sentiment. SEC insider sale filing

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on FERG. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. They set a "hold" rating and a $252.00 price target for the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Ferguson from $297.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Ferguson from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Ferguson from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $315.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Ferguson from $252.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ferguson currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $285.78.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ferguson in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,789,368,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Ferguson by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,981,791 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,331,621,000 after buying an additional 434,650 shares during the period. Man Group plc increased its stake in shares of Ferguson by 613.8% during the second quarter. Man Group plc now owns 401,395 shares of the company's stock valued at $95,263,000 after buying an additional 345,165 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 43.6% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,029,896 shares of the company's stock valued at $240,234,000 after acquiring an additional 312,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 9.2% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,868,181 shares of the company's stock valued at $668,809,000 after acquiring an additional 240,666 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company's stock.

Ferguson Company Profile

Ferguson plc NYSE: FERG is a North American distributor of plumbing and heating products, supplying professional customers across the residential, commercial, industrial and infrastructure markets. The company serves contractors, builders, remodelers, municipalities, industrial businesses and other trade professionals through branch locations, distribution centers and digital ordering platforms.

Its product offerings include plumbing supplies and fixtures, heating and cooling equipment, water and wastewater products, fire protection systems, waterworks materials, industrial piping and related maintenance, repair and operating supplies.

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