Parnassus Investments LLC Purchases 3,198,477 Shares of Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG)

Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in Ferguson plc (NASDAQ:FERG) by 944.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,537,155 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,198,477 shares during the quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC’s holdings in Ferguson were worth $613,944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in FERG. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ferguson by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 32,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,359,000 after purchasing an additional 7,862 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Ferguson during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in Ferguson by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 491,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,504,000 after buying an additional 60,282 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Ferguson by 47.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 245,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,652,000 after buying an additional 78,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Ferguson by 40.4% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 31,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,324,000 after buying an additional 9,161 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FERG. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Ferguson from $211.00 to $189.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Ferguson from $211.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Ferguson from $189.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Ferguson from $234.00 to $189.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 target price on shares of Ferguson and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ferguson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.64.

Ferguson Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ FERG opened at $155.23 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $176.18 and its 200-day moving average is $190.62. Ferguson plc has a 1 year low of $152.52 and a 1 year high of $225.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.04 billion, a PE ratio of 18.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.58 by ($0.06). Ferguson had a return on equity of 34.63% and a net margin of 5.68%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Ferguson plc will post 9.4 EPS for the current year.

Ferguson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. Ferguson’s payout ratio is 39.86%.

About Ferguson

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.