The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Stake Boosted by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1,730.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 162,254 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 153,391 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $28,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 2.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,556,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,599,554,000 after buying an additional 689,282 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,632,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,567,556,000 after acquiring an additional 122,190 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,380,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,183,522,000 after purchasing an additional 830,476 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,422,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,844,442,000 after purchasing an additional 105,734 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 14,049,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,433,400,000 after buying an additional 426,409 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $2,210,944.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,002,804.35. The trade was a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 7,007 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total transaction of $1,202,751.55. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 269,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,203,373.80. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,233 shares of company stock valued at $6,024,234. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

NYSE PG opened at $179.26 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $422.16 billion, a PE ratio of 30.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $170.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $169.11. 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 Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $142.50 and a twelve month high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The company had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 69.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Wolfe Research upgraded Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. DA Davidson upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $209.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.45.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.