Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Has $2.65 Million Stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd trimmed its stake in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 27.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,349 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $2,651,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. CWM LLC lifted its position in Ferguson by 303.7% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $904,000 after buying an additional 3,423 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ferguson during the second quarter worth $2,834,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Ferguson during the first quarter valued at $26,379,000. Entropy Technologies LP boosted its position in Ferguson by 66.2% during the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 51,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,256,000 after purchasing an additional 20,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Ferguson by 380.6% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 159,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,309,000 after purchasing an additional 126,242 shares in the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Ferguson from $203.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. 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. Robert W. Baird lifted 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ferguson from $211.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ferguson

In related news, SVP Garland Williams sold 1,118 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.22, for a total value of $224,963.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $378,696.04. This trade represents a 37.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael Jacobs sold 2,624 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.96, for a total value of $527,319.04. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,116 shares in the company, valued at $224,271.36. This represents a 70.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,313 shares of company stock valued at $2,477,901 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Ferguson Stock Up 0.4 %

FERG stock opened at $213.27 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50-day moving average of $201.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $202.52. Ferguson plc has a 52-week low of $166.21 and a 52-week high of $225.63. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $7.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.01 billion. Ferguson had a return on equity of 36.53% and a net margin of 5.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.77 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ferguson plc will post 9.77 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

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

About Ferguson

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.