Vinva Investment Management Ltd Sells 642 Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Vinva Investment Management Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 16.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,299 shares of the company’s stock after selling 642 shares during the quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $573,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Ferguson by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,468,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,668,462,000 after purchasing an additional 288,935 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Ferguson by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,541,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $905,230,000 after purchasing an additional 161,662 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted 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 worth $613,944,000 after purchasing an additional 3,198,477 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ferguson by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,197,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $633,409,000 after purchasing an additional 25,677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ferguson by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,371,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,858,000 after purchasing an additional 133,769 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on FERG. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $193.00 price objective (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 price objective on Ferguson and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Ferguson from $234.00 to $189.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Ferguson from $205.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $189.00 price target on shares of Ferguson in a report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ferguson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.67.

Ferguson Trading Down 1.0 %

FERG stock opened at $162.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $32.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28. Ferguson plc has a 1-year low of $152.52 and a 1-year high of $225.63. The business’s 50 day moving average is $175.01 and its 200-day moving average is $188.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.76 billion. Ferguson had a return on equity of 34.63% and a net margin of 5.68%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Ferguson plc will post 9.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.84%.

Ferguson 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.