Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Increases Position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 541,646 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,398 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned 0.27% of Ferguson worth $104,541,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ferguson in the 4th quarter valued at $610,247,000. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 86.9% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,636,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,144,000 after buying an additional 760,800 shares in the last quarter. Steadfast Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Ferguson in the 1st quarter valued at $79,982,000. Sculptor Capital LP acquired a new stake in Ferguson during the 4th quarter worth $68,056,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Ferguson during the 4th quarter worth $61,053,000. 81.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ferguson Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FERG opened at $215.41 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $209.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $187.10. Ferguson plc has a twelve month low of $130.09 and a twelve month high of $224.86. The company has a market capitalization of $43.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.98 and a beta of 1.27.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The company reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.82 by ($0.08). Ferguson had a return on equity of 37.99% and a net margin of 6.00%. The company had revenue of $6.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.91 earnings per share. Ferguson’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Ferguson plc will post 9.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FERG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ferguson from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ferguson from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ferguson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.50.

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.