Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) Price Target Lowered to $180.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) had its target price lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $205.00 to $180.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target points to a potential upside of 15.59% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on FERG. Citigroup cut their price target on Ferguson from $221.00 to $189.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Zelman & Associates lowered Ferguson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $193.00 price objective (down from $230.00) on shares of Ferguson in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $190.00 target price on shares of Ferguson and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.55.

Ferguson Price Performance

FERG stock traded down $1.25 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $155.73. 550,425 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,821,525. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Ferguson has a 12-month low of $154.09 and a 12-month high of $225.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $176.90 and its 200 day moving average is $191.11. The company has a market cap of $31.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28.

Ferguson (NASDAQ:FERG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by ($0.06). Ferguson had a net margin of 5.68% and a return on equity of 34.63%. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.74 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Ferguson will post 9.4 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ferguson

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Ferguson by 944.4% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,537,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $613,944,000 after acquiring an additional 3,198,477 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ferguson in the fourth quarter valued at about $469,730,000. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Ferguson by 208.8% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,678,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,973,000 after buying an additional 1,811,287 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Ferguson by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,007,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,740,049,000 after buying an additional 1,539,889 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group purchased a new position in Ferguson in the fourth quarter valued at about $239,539,000. 81.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ferguson Company 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.