New York State Common Retirement Fund Trims Position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 12.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 157,079 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,343 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.08% of Ferguson worth $30,327,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in Ferguson by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 542,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,318,000 after acquiring an additional 29,396 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ferguson by 807.2% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,802,000 after acquiring an additional 12,915 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 37.6% in the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 30,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,929,000 after buying an additional 8,395 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 491.4% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 220,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,569,000 after buying an additional 183,199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 102.0% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 77,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,014,000 after buying an additional 39,267 shares in the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ferguson Stock Up 1.7 %

FERG stock opened at $212.83 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $211.82 and a 200 day moving average of $189.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.74 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Ferguson plc has a 52 week low of $133.79 and a 52 week high of $224.86.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The company reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by ($0.08). Ferguson had a return on equity of 37.99% and a net margin of 6.00%. The business had revenue of $6.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.91 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ferguson plc will post 9.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FERG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ferguson from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Raymond James cut shares of Ferguson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.50.

Ferguson Company 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.