E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Raises Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 12.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,670 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,662 shares during the quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $2,419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Alera Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $812,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 2,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.1% in the first quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 5,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $925,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Home Federal Bank of Tennessee raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.3% in the second quarter. Home Federal Bank of Tennessee now owns 23,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,846,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Citigroup increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $189.00 price target for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total transaction of $1,458,045.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,537 shares in the company, valued at $1,902,451.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of the 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 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 is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,451.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 375,553 shares of company stock worth $63,829,141. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.7 %

Procter & Gamble stock opened at $175.93 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $415.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $141.45 and a 52 week high of $177.94. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $169.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.69 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 17.71%. Procter & Gamble’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

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

About Procter & Gamble

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.