OneAscent Financial Services LLC Cuts Stock Position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

OneAscent Financial Services LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 35.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,311 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,295 shares during the quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 375.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 4,966,821 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Ferguson by 589.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,619,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,778,000 after buying an additional 1,384,570 shares during the period. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Ferguson during the first quarter worth approximately $104,723,000. Waverton Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in Ferguson by 61.0% in the second quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 812,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,293,000 after purchasing an additional 308,138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV purchased a new position in Ferguson in the third quarter valued at approximately $45,850,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ferguson news, CMO Victoria Morrissey sold 1,468 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.20, for a total value of $295,361.60. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 5,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,047,246. This represents a 22.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Michael Jacobs sold 2,624 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,116 shares in the company, valued at approximately $224,271.36. The trade was a 70.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,313 shares of company stock valued at $2,477,901. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target 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 raised their target price on Ferguson from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group raised their target price on Ferguson from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays raised their price target on Ferguson from $229.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ferguson from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.38.

Ferguson Stock Performance

NASDAQ FERG opened at $200.83 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.20. Ferguson plc has a 1-year low of $164.22 and a 1-year 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. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $199.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $202.99.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $7.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.01 billion. Ferguson had a return on equity of 36.53% and a net margin of 5.85%. The company’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.77 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ferguson plc will post 9.77 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.