Wall Street Zen Downgrades Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) to Hold

Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Friday.

Several other brokerages have also commented on FERG. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ferguson in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $288.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $204.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ferguson from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.75.

Ferguson Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:FERG opened at $251.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market cap of $49.32 billion, a PE ratio of 26.95, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $240.15. Ferguson has a 52 week low of $146.00 and a 52 week high of $256.93.

Ferguson (NYSE:FERG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, September 16th. The company reported $3.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.44 billion. Ferguson had a net margin of 6.03% and a return on equity of 35.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ferguson

In other news, CFO William Brundage sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.32, for a total transaction of $699,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 52,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,279,864.92. This represents a 5.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider James A. Paisley sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.97, for a total transaction of $710,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 2,211 shares in the company, valued at $523,940.67. The trade was a 57.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,264 shares of company stock worth $6,853,349. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FERG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Ferguson by 0.9% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,341,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,211,692,000 after purchasing an additional 173,128 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Ferguson by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,687,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,673,977,000 after purchasing an additional 27,312 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Ferguson by 13.8% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,818,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,092,576,000 after purchasing an additional 827,355 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position 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 valued at $713,740,000 after buying an additional 1,755,464 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Ferguson by 1.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,437,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,000,152,000 after buying an additional 81,094 shares during the last quarter. 81.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ferguson

Ferguson Enterprises Inc distributes plumbing and heating products in North America. The company provides expertise, solutions, and products, including infrastructure, plumbing, appliances, fire, and fabrication, as well as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) to residential and non-residential customers.