Caxton Associates LP Trims Stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Caxton Associates LP cut its stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 33.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,625 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,759 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $1,323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Ferguson by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,007,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,740,049,000 after buying an additional 1,539,889 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Ferguson by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,991,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,039,935,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231,120 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Ferguson by 944.4% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,537,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $613,944,000 after acquiring an additional 3,198,477 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ferguson by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,215,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $557,082,000 after purchasing an additional 18,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in Ferguson by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,804,595 shares of the company’s stock worth $486,814,000 after purchasing an additional 192,052 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on FERG. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $189.00 price objective on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $234.00 to $189.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “hold” rating and a $174.00 target price for the company. Zelman & Associates cut Ferguson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Ferguson from $211.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.38.

Ferguson Stock Performance

Shares of Ferguson stock opened at $172.61 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $164.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $180.76. The company has a market cap of $34.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.72, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.68. Ferguson plc has a one year low of $146.00 and a one year high of $225.63.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.58 by ($0.06). Ferguson had a net margin of 5.68% and a return on equity of 34.63%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Ferguson plc will post 9.4 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. Ferguson’s payout ratio is presently 40.84%.

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.