Brighton Jones LLC Takes $219,000 Position in Ferguson plc $FERG

Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FERG. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Ferguson by 24.0% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 3,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ferguson by 14.3% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $928,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in Ferguson by 3.3% in the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $508,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in Ferguson by 19.8% in the first quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 35,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,632,000 after purchasing an additional 5,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in Ferguson by 1,456.9% in the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 29,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,685,000 after purchasing an additional 27,360 shares during the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ferguson Stock Up 1.1%

FERG stock opened at $248.59 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $233.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.68. Ferguson plc has a 52-week low of $146.00 and a 52-week high of $252.52. The stock has a market cap of $48.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.17.

Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 16th. The company reported $3.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. Ferguson had a net margin of 6.03% and a return on equity of 35.21%.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Friday, September 26th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 (DPR) is currently 35.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FERG has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ferguson from $204.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. 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. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Ferguson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $240.80.

Insider Transactions at Ferguson

In other Ferguson news, insider Kevin Michael Murphy sold 8,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owned 159,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,444,645.03. This trade represents a 5.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO William Brundage sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.32, for a total value of $699,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 52,631 shares in the company, valued at $12,279,864.92. The trade was a 5.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 29,264 shares of company stock worth $6,853,349 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.