B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Takes Position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 34,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,792,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Ferguson by 375.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,289,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,218,032,000 after acquiring an additional 4,966,821 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 589.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,619,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,778,000 after purchasing an additional 1,384,570 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Ferguson in the first quarter worth $104,723,000. Waverton Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 61.0% during the second quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 812,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,293,000 after buying an additional 308,138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV acquired a new position in Ferguson during the third quarter valued at $45,850,000. 81.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Ferguson Trading Up 0.6 %

Ferguson stock opened at $201.93 on Wednesday. Ferguson plc has a one year low of $164.22 and a one year high of $225.63. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $199.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $202.89. The company has a market capitalization of $40.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.72, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.12. Ferguson had a return on equity of 36.53% and a net margin of 5.85%. The business had revenue of $7.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.77 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Ferguson plc will post 9.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. Ferguson’s payout ratio is 37.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Garland Williams sold 1,118 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.22, for a total transaction of $224,963.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,882 shares in the company, valued at $378,696.04. This represents a 37.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ian T. Graham sold 5,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.27, for a total value of $1,162,938.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,938 shares in the company, valued at $1,195,141.26. This trade represents a 49.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 12,313 shares of company stock valued at $2,477,901. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.