D.A. Davidson & CO. Boosts Stock Holdings in Ferguson plc $FERG

D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in shares of Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG) by 497.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,067 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 14,209 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $3,716,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of FERG. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Ferguson by 23.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $573,000 after buying an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Ferguson by 25.1% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,312,000 after buying an additional 1,645 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Ferguson by 24.0% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 3,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $544,000 after buying an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Ferguson by 121.6% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 8,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,373,000 after buying an additional 4,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Ferguson by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 76,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,196,000 after buying an additional 3,599 shares in the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ferguson

In related news, insider Kevin Michael Murphy sold 8,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.13, for a total value of $2,060,344.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 159,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,444,645.03. This represents a 5.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider James A. Paisley sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.97, for a total value of $710,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 2,211 shares in the company, valued at $523,940.67. This represents a 57.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,264 shares of company stock valued at $6,853,349 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on FERG shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Ferguson from $247.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ferguson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Ferguson from $235.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ferguson from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $240.80.

Ferguson Stock Performance

FERG opened at $249.40 on Friday. Ferguson plc has a one year low of $146.00 and a one year high of $251.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.88 billion, a PE ratio of 26.70, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $232.09. 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) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 16th. The company reported $3.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.48. Ferguson had a return on equity of 35.21% and a net margin of 6.03%.The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.44 billion.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Friday, September 26th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 26th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.55%.

Ferguson Profile

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.