Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 385,882 Shares of Ferguson plc $FERG

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its stake in shares of Ferguson plc (NYSE:FERG) by 6.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,707,184 shares of the company’s stock after selling 385,882 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $1,331,258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ferguson during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in Ferguson in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in Ferguson in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Ferguson in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT lifted its position in Ferguson by 123.4% during the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 143 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on FERG. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Ferguson from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $315.00 to $265.00 in a report on Monday, July 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ferguson from $260.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Ferguson from $271.00 to $281.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Ferguson from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $276.61.

Ferguson Stock Down 1.9%

FERG stock opened at $230.30 on Thursday. Ferguson plc has a twelve month low of $207.64 and a twelve month high of $271.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $44.66 billion, a PE ratio of 26.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $230.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $240.32.

Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $7.47 billion for the quarter. Ferguson had a return on equity of 38.81% and a net margin of 6.98%.Ferguson’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.50 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ferguson plc will post 11.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.89 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Ferguson’s payout ratio is currently 41.40%.

Ferguson declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 5th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Ferguson Profile

Ferguson (NYSE: FERG) is a multinational distributor specializing in plumbing and heating products and related building supplies, serving professional contractors, builders and industrial customers. The company supplies a broad range of products used in residential, commercial and infrastructure projects, including pipes and fittings, valves and controls, HVAC equipment, waterworks materials, plumbing fixtures, pumps and accessories, as well as complementary electrical and specialty product lines.

Ferguson operates a network of branches and distribution centers that provide inventory, logistics and value-added services to trade customers.