Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 77,936 Shares of Ferguson plc $FERG

Alliancebernstein L.P. lessened its position in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 42.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 103,722 shares of the company’s stock after selling 77,936 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.05% of Ferguson worth $16,619,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in FERG. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ferguson by 101.1% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,165,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $667,498,000 after purchasing an additional 2,094,029 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 65.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,454,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $713,740,000 after buying an additional 1,755,464 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Ferguson by 24.5% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,660,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,227,410,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506,024 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 94.6% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,402,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $384,957,000 after acquiring an additional 1,167,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Ferguson by 769.5% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,266,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,004,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121,249 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FERG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Ferguson from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Ferguson from $189.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Ferguson from $173.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.00.

Ferguson Stock Performance

NASDAQ FERG opened at $225.22 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $226.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $196.07. The stock has a market cap of $44.41 billion, a PE ratio of 27.04, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.68. Ferguson plc has a fifty-two week low of $146.00 and a fifty-two week high of $243.40.

Ferguson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 26th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 26th. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.40%.

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.