Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Acquires 4,243 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 187,271 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,243 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble comprises approximately 1.3% of Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $30,885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,552,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,546,302,000 after buying an additional 554,451 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,691,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,598,510,000 after purchasing an additional 733,440 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 6,987,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,023,949,000 after buying an additional 223,798 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings 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 worth $999,705,000 after buying an additional 545,601 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,008,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $974,914,000 after buying an additional 79,665 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock opened at $175.93 on Wednesday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $141.45 and a 1 year high of $177.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $415.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50-day moving average of $169.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $165.49.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.69 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.71% and a return on equity of 33.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value of $1,458,045.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,451.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.22, for a total transaction of $76,149.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,212,043.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value of $1,458,045.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,902,451.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 375,553 shares of company stock worth $63,829,141. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on PG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. BNP Paribas started coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $182.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.79.

Procter & Gamble Company 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.