Insider Selling: Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) Insider Sells 606 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Insider Ian Graham sold 606 shares of Ferguson plc at an average price of $239.33, resulting in a total sale value of $145,033.98, and now holds 7,714 shares in the company.
• Ferguson reported a quarterly earnings per share of $3.48, exceeding analyst expectations of $3.00, alongside a revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter.
• The company is set to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share on November 7th, representing an annualized dividend of $3.32 and a yield of 1.4%.

Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG - Get Free Report) insider Ian Graham sold 606 shares of Ferguson stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.33, for a total value of $145,033.98. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 7,714 shares in the company, valued at $1,846,191.62. The trade was a 7.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Ferguson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FERG traded up $1.42 during trading on Friday, hitting $237.02. 1,155,718 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,755,877. Ferguson plc has a 1-year low of $146.00 and a 1-year high of $243.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $230.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Ferguson (NYSE:FERG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 16th. The company reported $3.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.48. Ferguson had a return on equity of 35.21% and a net margin of 6.03%.The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 26th. Ferguson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on FERG shares. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Ferguson to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Ferguson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Ferguson from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Ferguson from $247.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ferguson presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.14.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ferguson

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FERG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ferguson by 0.9% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,341,871 shares of the company's stock worth $4,211,692,000 after acquiring an additional 173,128 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Ferguson by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,687,611 shares of the company's stock worth $1,673,977,000 after acquiring an additional 27,312 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ferguson by 13.8% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,818,800 shares of the company's stock worth $1,092,576,000 after acquiring an additional 827,355 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Ferguson by 65.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,454,467 shares of the company's stock worth $713,740,000 after acquiring an additional 1,755,464 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Ferguson by 39.3% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,255,661 shares of the company's stock worth $926,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,201,493 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company's stock.

About Ferguson

Ferguson Enterprises Inc distributes plumbing and heating products in North America. The company provides expertise, solutions, and products, including infrastructure, plumbing, appliances, fire, and fabrication, as well as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) to residential and non-residential customers.

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