T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Purchases 412,805 Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 24.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,071,844 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 412,805 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned about 1.04% of Ferguson worth $359,610,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Ferguson by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,699,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $468,467,000 after acquiring an additional 297,749 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 520.6% in the fourth quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 11,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,958,000 after purchasing an additional 9,464 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Global Management UK Ltd bought a new position in Ferguson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,188,000. SIH Partners LLLP acquired a new position in Ferguson during the 4th quarter worth $21,190,000. Finally, Beacon Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ferguson by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,040,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on FERG. Bank of America upgraded Ferguson from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $185.00 to $225.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Ferguson from $211.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $204.00 target price for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ferguson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.38.

Ferguson Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Ferguson stock opened at $163.44 on Thursday. Ferguson plc has a 1 year low of $146.00 and a 1 year high of $225.63. 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 has a market capitalization of $32.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a 50-day moving average of $165.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $182.64.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by ($0.06). Ferguson had a return on equity of 34.63% and a net margin of 5.68%. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. Ferguson’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ferguson plc will post 9.4 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.84%.

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.