Formuepleje A S Acquires New Stake in Ferguson plc $FERG

Formuepleje A S bought a new stake in Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 8,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,960,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in Ferguson during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $864,000. Scott Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ferguson by 41.0% during the 3rd quarter. Scott Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in Ferguson by 37.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC raised its position in Ferguson by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 3,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $846,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Management Inc. raised its position in Ferguson by 356.8% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Management Inc. now owns 15,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,355,000 after purchasing an additional 11,771 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Ferguson from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $315.00 to $265.00 in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ferguson in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Ferguson from $252.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Oppenheimer upped their price target 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. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised shares of Ferguson from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $285.78.

Ferguson Price Performance

Shares of Ferguson stock traded up $5.05 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $227.99. The company had a trading volume of 837,224 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,680,886. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $229.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $234.52. Ferguson plc has a 1-year low of $212.13 and a 1-year high of $271.64. The company has a market capitalization of $44.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.14.

Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $3.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts forecast that Ferguson plc will post 11.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.89 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 21st. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Ferguson’s payout ratio is presently 41.83%.

Insider Activity at Ferguson

In other news, CFO William Brundage sold 5,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.74, for a total transaction of $1,309,377.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 54,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,010,575.92. This represents a 9.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Anthony Camposano sold 1,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.74, for a total value of $345,609.20. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 10,952 shares in the company, valued at $2,395,640.48. This trade represents a 12.61% decrease in their position. 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 have sold a total of 32,504 shares of company stock valued at $7,155,336 over the last quarter. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ferguson News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Ferguson this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: Six Ferguson insiders—including CFO William Brundage, COO William Thees Jr., VP Anthony Camposano and other executives—sold a combined 27,327 shares worth approximately $6.0 million on October 12. Each seller retained a meaningful stake in the company. Ferguson insider trading report
• Neutral Sentiment: All of the transactions were executed under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plans. That suggests the sales were scheduled for diversification or liquidity purposes rather than necessarily reflecting declining confidence in Ferguson’s operations or valuation. SEC insider transaction filing
• Negative Sentiment: The broad participation by senior executives may create modest near-term pressure on investor sentiment, particularly as individual holdings declined by roughly 6% to 25%. However, the remaining ownership positions and scheduled-sale structure reduce the likelihood that investors will interpret the filings as a strong fundamental warning. SEC insider transaction filing

About Ferguson

Ferguson plc (NYSE: FERG) is a North American distributor of plumbing and heating products, supplying professional customers across the residential, commercial, industrial and infrastructure markets. The company serves contractors, builders, remodelers, municipalities, industrial businesses and other trade professionals through branch locations, distribution centers and digital ordering platforms.

Its product offerings include plumbing supplies and fixtures, heating and cooling equipment, water and wastewater products, fire protection systems, waterworks materials, industrial piping and related maintenance, repair and operating supplies.