The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Acquired by Optas LLC

Optas LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 5.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,526 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. Optas LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $957,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 64.7% in the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE:PG opened at $165.10 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $171.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $388.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.47, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.42. 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 1 year low of $142.50 and a 1 year high of $177.94.

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

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be given 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 payout ratio is 69.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PG shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $182.00 to $175.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.22, for a total value of $76,149.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,212,043.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 3,373 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $573,410.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 21,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,657,210. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.22, for a total value of $76,149.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,072 shares in the company, valued at $2,212,043.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 389,144 shares of company stock worth $66,184,385. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.