BNP Paribas Financial Markets Purchases New Holdings in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 319,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,420,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.16% of Ferguson as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Ferguson by 375.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,289,864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,218,032,000 after buying an additional 4,966,821 shares during the period. Waverton Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in Ferguson by 61.0% in the 2nd 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 during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Ferguson by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,468,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,668,462,000 after buying an additional 288,935 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Ferguson by 79.6% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 646,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,217,000 after buying an additional 286,691 shares during the period. Finally, ING Groep NV acquired a new position in Ferguson in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $45,850,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Ferguson Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FERG opened at $213.27 on Thursday. Ferguson plc has a 1 year low of $166.21 and a 1 year high of $225.63. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $201.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $202.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.93, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. Ferguson’s payout ratio is presently 37.05%.

Insider Activity at Ferguson

In other Ferguson news, VP Michael Jacobs sold 2,624 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.96, for a total value of $527,319.04. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $224,271.36. This represents a 70.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Richard Winckler sold 1,325 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.75, for a total transaction of $267,318.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,750. This trade represents a 56.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,313 shares of company stock worth $2,477,901. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on FERG shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $211.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ferguson from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ferguson from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Ferguson from $203.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.