Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) Shares Sold by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. trimmed its holdings in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 1.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,350 shares of the company’s stock after selling 90 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $1,230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FERG. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Ferguson by 375.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,289,864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,218,032,000 after acquiring an additional 4,966,821 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Ferguson by 589.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,619,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,778,000 after purchasing an additional 1,384,570 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors bought a new position in shares of Ferguson during the first quarter worth about $104,723,000. APG Asset Management US Inc. acquired a new position in Ferguson in the fourth quarter worth about $89,758,000. Finally, Robeco Schweiz AG bought a new stake in Ferguson in the fourth quarter valued at about $61,782,000. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FERG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Ferguson from $238.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $250.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ferguson from $211.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ferguson from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $203.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.57.

Ferguson Trading Up 1.3 %

Ferguson stock opened at $208.19 on Friday. Ferguson plc has a 52-week low of $147.62 and a 52-week high of $225.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.75, a PEG ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $204.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $206.94.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $7.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.01 billion. Ferguson had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 6.33%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.77 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ferguson plc will post 9.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Ferguson declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 4th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.54%.

Ferguson Company Profile

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.