Martingale Asset Management L P Sells 46,430 Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Martingale Asset Management L P decreased its position in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 42.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 63,485 shares of the company’s stock after selling 46,430 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $11,019,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ferguson by 906.7% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 151 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Ferguson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in Ferguson by 92.5% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 258 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ferguson in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ferguson by 41.1% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ferguson from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $234.00 to $189.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Zelman & Associates lowered shares of Ferguson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Ferguson and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Ferguson from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.62.

Ferguson Trading Up 10.9 %

NASDAQ FERG opened at $164.22 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.71, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.17. Ferguson plc has a one year low of $146.00 and a one year high of $225.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business’s fifty day moving average is $169.05 and its 200-day moving average is $184.94.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last released its 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Ferguson plc will post 9.4 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. 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.