Private Advisor Group LLC Increases Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 353,222 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,805 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $58,253,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter worth $3,956,117,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,552,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,546,302,000 after purchasing an additional 554,451 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,571,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,402,636,000 after buying an additional 246,323 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 6,987,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,023,949,000 after buying an additional 223,798 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,161,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $999,705,000 after buying an additional 545,601 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PG shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Dbs Bank lowered Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.79.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Procter & Gamble stock opened at $175.59 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $168.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $164.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $414.42 billion, a PE ratio of 28.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $141.45 and a twelve month high of $177.04.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.69 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 17.71%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.85%.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.89, for a total transaction of $6,289,463.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 263,537 shares in the company, valued at $44,508,763.93. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.89, for a total transaction of $6,289,463.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 263,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,508,763.93. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andre Schulten sold 13,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $2,216,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,325,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 375,553 shares of company stock worth $63,829,141. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Procter & Gamble Profile

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It operates through five segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment offers conditioners, shampoos, styling aids, and treatments under the Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, and Rejoice brands; and antiperspirants and deodorants, personal cleansing, and skin care products under the Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Secret, and SK-II brands.