Principal Securities Inc. Grows Stock Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 28,627 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,579 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $4,958,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PG. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the second quarter worth $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the second quarter worth $29,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 period. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the second quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the second quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PG opened at $165.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $388.82 billion, a PE ratio of 28.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $171.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.91. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $142.50 and a fifty-two week high of $177.94.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on PG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Hsbc Global Res raised Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Dbs Bank downgraded Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.00.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 72,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.01, for a total value of $12,342,475.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 263,158 shares in the company, valued at $45,002,649.58. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Andre Schulten sold 13,041 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was 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 $6,325,360. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 72,174 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.01, for a total value of $12,342,475.74. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 263,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,002,649.58. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 389,144 shares of company stock worth $66,184,385 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Procter & Gamble

The Procter & Gamble Company engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. The company 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, SK-II, and Native brands.