Argent Trust Co Purchases 615 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Argent Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 138,027 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 615 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble accounts for about 1.0% of Argent Trust Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $22,763,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 64.7% in the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PG has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $179.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $182.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.89, for a total value of $6,289,463.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 263,537 shares in the company, valued at $44,508,763.93. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 263,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,508,763.93. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 87,979 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.40, for a total value of $14,991,621.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 300,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,252,400.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 375,553 shares of company stock valued at $63,829,141. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE PG opened at $175.93 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $415.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12-month low of $141.45 and a 12-month high of $177.94. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $169.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $165.49.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 17.71%. The firm’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th were issued a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.85%.

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.