Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Makes New Investment in Ferguson plc $FERG

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 67,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,988,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Profund Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ferguson during the third quarter valued at about $372,000. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ferguson in the third quarter valued at about $6,694,000. Cidel Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ferguson by 7.8% in the third quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ferguson in the third quarter worth about $310,000. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC lifted its position in shares of Ferguson by 45.0% during the third quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 4,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $935,000 after buying an additional 1,303 shares during the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FERG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $280.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ferguson from $290.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their target price on shares of Ferguson from $295.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Ferguson from $295.00 to $292.00 in a report on Thursday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $287.44.

Ferguson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FERG opened at $241.75 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Ferguson plc has a 12 month low of $212.13 and a 12 month high of $271.64. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $225.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $237.28. The stock has a market cap of $46.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.41, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.11.

Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $3.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $8.75 billion for the quarter. Ferguson had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 6.82%. As a group, analysts predict that Ferguson plc will post 11.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ian T. Graham sold 1,854 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.74, for a total transaction of $405,543.96. Following the sale, the insider owned 11,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,517,916.14. This trade represents a 13.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Kevin Murphy sold 11,259 shares of Ferguson stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.78, for a total transaction of $2,440,726.02. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 173,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,690,021.14. This trade represents a 6.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 38,808 shares of company stock valued at $8,571,587 in the last three months. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ferguson Profile

Ferguson plc (NYSE: FERG) is a value-added distributor of plumbing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), waterworks, fire protection and other building and industrial products. The company serves professional contractors, municipalities, commercial and industrial businesses, and other customers through a network of branches, distribution centers, showrooms and digital platforms.

Its product offering includes pipes, valves, fittings, plumbing fixtures, water and wastewater infrastructure products, HVAC equipment, fire protection systems, industrial supplies and related tools and services.