Triavera Capital LLC Reduces Position in Ferguson plc $FERG

Triavera Capital LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG) by 25.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 37,497 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,962 shares during the period. Ferguson comprises approximately 4.3% of Triavera Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Triavera Capital LLC’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $8,165,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FERG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Ferguson by 0.9% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,341,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,211,692,000 after purchasing an additional 173,128 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Ferguson by 0.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,687,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,673,977,000 after buying an additional 27,312 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Ferguson by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,818,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,092,576,000 after buying an additional 827,355 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Ferguson by 65.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,454,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $713,740,000 after buying an additional 1,755,464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 39.3% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,255,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $926,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,201,493 shares during the period. 81.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on FERG. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ferguson in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. UBS Group increased their price target on Ferguson from $204.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Vertical Research started coverage on Ferguson in a research report on Monday, October 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $291.99 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Ferguson from $231.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $246.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP William T. Thees, Jr. sold 2,308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.55, for a total transaction of $541,341.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 29,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,964,727.70. This represents a 7.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider James A. Paisley sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.97, for a total value of $710,910.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 2,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $523,940.67. This represents a 57.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 29,264 shares of company stock valued at $6,853,349 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Ferguson Stock Performance

NYSE FERG opened at $252.10 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $240.89. Ferguson plc has a fifty-two week low of $146.00 and a fifty-two week high of $256.93. The company has a market cap of $49.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

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

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Friday, September 26th were given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 26th. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is 35.55%.

Ferguson 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.