ING Groep NV Has $46.37 Million Stock Position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

ING Groep NV lifted its stake in shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 267,149 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,249 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $46,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ferguson by 906.7% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 151 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of Ferguson by 1,350.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 145 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ferguson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Ferguson during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ferguson during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FERG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded Ferguson from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Zelman & Associates cut Ferguson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Ferguson from $221.00 to $189.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays dropped their price target on Ferguson from $234.00 to $211.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Ferguson in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $234.00 price target on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ferguson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.73.

Ferguson Stock Down 2.0 %

FERG stock opened at $181.85 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.24. Ferguson plc has a fifty-two week low of $167.27 and a fifty-two week high of $225.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $179.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.35.

Ferguson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th were issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a positive change from Ferguson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. Ferguson’s dividend payout ratio is 39.86%.

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.