Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) Stock: Insider Ian Graham Sells 1,097 Shares

Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG) insider Ian Graham sold 1,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $252,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 9,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,271,020. This represents a 10.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ferguson Price Performance

NYSE FERG opened at $228.25 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Ferguson plc has a 12 month low of $212.13 and a 12 month high of $271.64. The stock has a market cap of $44.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.82, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50 day moving average is $226.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $234.42.

Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $3.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $8.75 billion for the quarter. Ferguson had a net margin of 6.82% and a return on equity of 37.24%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ferguson plc will post 11.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.89 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 21st. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Ferguson’s payout ratio is 41.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FERG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ferguson from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Ferguson in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on Ferguson from $297.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Ferguson from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $315.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised Ferguson from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $285.31.

Institutional Trading of Ferguson

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Saudi Central Bank boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 88.5% during the 2nd quarter. Saudi Central Bank now owns 13,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,229,000 after acquiring an additional 6,389 shares during the last quarter. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich grew its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 2.5% in the second quarter. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich now owns 326,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,509,000 after purchasing an additional 7,916 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in Ferguson in the second quarter worth $2,183,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Ferguson by 13.2% in the second quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 96,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,932,000 after purchasing an additional 11,196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in Ferguson by 1.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,619,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,100,474,000 after purchasing an additional 48,544 shares during the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ferguson Company Profile

Ferguson plc (NYSE: FERG) is a value-added distributor of plumbing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), waterworks, fire protection and other building and industrial products. The company serves professional contractors, municipalities, commercial and industrial businesses, and other customers through a network of branches, distribution centers, showrooms and digital platforms.

Its product offering includes pipes, valves, fittings, plumbing fixtures, water and wastewater infrastructure products, HVAC equipment, fire protection systems, industrial supplies and related tools and services.