Biechele Royce Advisors Buys 1,016 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Biechele Royce Advisors increased its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,766 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,016 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble accounts for about 0.5% of Biechele Royce Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Biechele Royce Advisors’ holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,446,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 42,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,052,000 after purchasing an additional 3,380 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 384,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,449,000 after purchasing an additional 23,853 shares in the last quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 9,050.3% during the 2nd quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 131,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,610,000 after purchasing an additional 129,601 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 85,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,021,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sage Mountain Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 19.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 13,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,267,000 after buying an additional 2,216 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PG shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Wolfe Research raised Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $179.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.79.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of PG stock traded up $1.51 on Friday, hitting $171.54. 7,301,617 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,572,756. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $404.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50-day moving average of $167.48 and a 200 day moving average of $164.03. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $141.45 and a fifty-two week high of $171.89.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 17.71%. The company had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 EPS 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 65.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of the company’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 owns 263,537 shares in the company, valued at $44,508,763.93. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value of $1,458,045.80. Following the completion of the sale, 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 quarter, insiders have sold 375,553 shares of company stock worth $63,829,141. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.