Brooklyn Investment Group Makes New Investment in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 3.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,468,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,668,462,000 after acquiring an additional 288,935 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 375.4% in the second 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 10.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,563,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,781,000 after acquiring an additional 153,757 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 5.9% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,412,652 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,510,000 after acquiring an additional 79,152 shares during the period. Finally, First Pacific Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 1.4% in the second quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 1,104,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,846,000 after acquiring an additional 15,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ian T. Graham sold 5,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.27, for a total value of $1,162,938.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,938 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,195,141.26. This trade represents a 49.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Michael Jacobs sold 2,624 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now owns 1,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,271.36. This trade represents a 70.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,313 shares of company stock worth $2,477,901 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FERG shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on Ferguson from $203.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $234.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Ferguson from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays upped their target price on Ferguson from $229.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Ferguson from $211.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.38.

Ferguson Stock Performance

Ferguson stock opened at $216.01 on Friday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $201.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $202.66. Ferguson plc has a 52-week low of $167.09 and a 52-week high of $225.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.20.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 17th. The company reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.12. Ferguson had a return on equity of 36.53% and a net margin of 5.85%. The firm had revenue of $7.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.77 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ferguson plc will post 9.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.05%.

Ferguson Profile

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.