Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) Shares Acquired by Fred Alger Management LLC

Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 103.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 178,549 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 90,688 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Ferguson worth $35,454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Ferguson by 303.7% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $904,000 after purchasing an additional 3,423 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ferguson in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,834,000. Entropy Technologies LP increased its holdings in Ferguson by 66.2% during the 3rd quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 51,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,256,000 after acquiring an additional 20,580 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Ferguson by 380.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 159,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,309,000 after acquiring an additional 126,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in Ferguson during the third quarter worth about $2,528,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Ferguson Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FERG opened at $216.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $43.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $201.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $202.66. Ferguson plc has a 52 week low of $167.09 and a 52 week high of $225.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $7.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.01 billion. Ferguson had a return on equity of 36.53% and a net margin of 5.85%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.77 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ferguson plc will post 9.77 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Michael Jacobs sold 2,624 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.96, for a total transaction of $527,319.04. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,116 shares in the company, valued at $224,271.36. This represents a 70.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Garland Williams sold 1,118 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.22, for a total value of $224,963.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,882 shares in the company, valued at $378,696.04. This trade represents a 37.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,313 shares of company stock valued at $2,477,901 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Ferguson from $229.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Ferguson from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Ferguson from $203.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ferguson from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ferguson from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ferguson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.38.

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.