Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Sells 1,011 Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lowered its stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,418 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,011 shares during the quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $6,842,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FERG. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its position in Ferguson by 944.4% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,537,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $613,944,000 after purchasing an additional 3,198,477 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ferguson during the 4th quarter worth about $469,730,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 423.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,462,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $290,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183,143 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ferguson by 339.9% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 1,234,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,320,000 after acquiring an additional 954,092 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Ferguson by 7,632.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 677,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,626,000 after acquiring an additional 668,920 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FERG. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $189.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Zelman & Associates downgraded Ferguson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Ferguson from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $205.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $189.00 target price on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Four research 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.67.

Ferguson Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FERG opened at $163.28 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $174.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.89. Ferguson plc has a 1 year low of $152.52 and a 1 year high of $225.63.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.76 billion. Ferguson had a net margin of 5.68% and a return on equity of 34.63%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Ferguson plc will post 9.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. Ferguson’s payout ratio is 40.84%.

Ferguson Company 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.