Vontobel Holding Ltd. Has $104.32 Million Stock Holdings in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG - Free Report) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 542,455 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 29,396 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned about 0.27% of Ferguson worth $104,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Ferguson during the 1st quarter worth $370,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 34,620 shares of the company's stock worth $4,669,000 after acquiring an additional 3,570 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,046,579 shares of the company's stock worth $1,213,327,000 after acquiring an additional 191,587 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 100.4% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,996 shares of the company's stock worth $670,000 after acquiring an additional 2,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 31.4% during the 1st quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 161,273 shares of the company's stock worth $21,630,000 after acquiring an additional 38,584 shares in the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ferguson Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FERG traded down $1.94 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $216.32. 938,978 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,073,798. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.80. Ferguson plc has a 52-week low of $126.18 and a 52-week high of $224.86. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $208.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $186.41. The company has a market capitalization of $43.87 billion, a PE ratio of 25.15, a P/E/G ratio of 9.03 and a beta of 1.27.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The company reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.82 by ($0.08). Ferguson had a return on equity of 37.99% and a net margin of 6.00%. The firm had revenue of $6.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.91 earnings per share. Ferguson's revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Ferguson plc will post 9.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Ferguson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on FERG shares. Raymond James lowered Ferguson from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ferguson from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $166.50.

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.