Praxis Investment Management Inc. Has $810,000 Stock Position in Ferguson plc $FERG

Praxis Investment Management Inc. reduced its position in Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG) by 37.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,720 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,200 shares during the period. Praxis Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in FERG. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ferguson by 101.1% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,165,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $667,498,000 after buying an additional 2,094,029 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 65.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,454,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $713,740,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755,464 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 24.5% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,660,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,227,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506,024 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 94.6% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,402,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $384,957,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167,751 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 769.5% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,266,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,004,000 after purchasing an additional 1,121,249 shares during the period. 81.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Ferguson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ferguson from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Ferguson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ferguson in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ferguson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Richard Winckler sold 1,034 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.70, for a total value of $240,611.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,458 shares in the company, valued at $339,276.60. The trade was a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Allison Stirrup sold 969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.23, for a total value of $226,968.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,184,735.34. This trade represents a 16.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,264 shares of company stock valued at $6,853,349. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Ferguson Trading Up 0.6%

FERG stock opened at $237.02 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $230.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $46.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.38, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.17. Ferguson plc has a 1-year low of $146.00 and a 1-year high of $243.40.

Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 16th. The company reported $3.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. Ferguson had a return on equity of 35.21% and a net margin of 6.03%.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 26th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 26th. Ferguson’s payout ratio is 35.55%.

Ferguson Company Profile

Ferguson Enterprises Inc distributes plumbing and heating products in North America. The company provides expertise, solutions, and products, including infrastructure, plumbing, appliances, fire, and fabrication, as well as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) to residential and non-residential customers.