B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Decreases Stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG trimmed its position in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 21.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,019 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,184 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $4,690,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Ferguson by 944.4% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ferguson during the fourth quarter worth $469,730,000. Schroder Investment Management Group acquired a new position in shares of Ferguson during the fourth quarter worth $239,539,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Ferguson by 2,384.2% in the fourth quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,071,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $185,993,000 after buying an additional 1,028,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 954,092 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Ferguson Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ FERG opened at $160.37 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $173.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $187.49. Ferguson plc has a one year low of $152.52 and a one year high of $225.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market cap of $32.07 billion, a PE ratio of 19.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $1.52 EPS 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 company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Ferguson plc will post 9.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FERG. Zelman & Associates cut Ferguson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 price target on Ferguson and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $205.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Berenberg Bank upped their target price on shares of Ferguson from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Four equities research 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.com, Ferguson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.67.

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.