The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Position Increased by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 400,549 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,709 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $67,152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Main Street Research LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Main Street Research LLC now owns 385,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,682,000 after purchasing an additional 18,547 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 1,815,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,325,000 after purchasing an additional 272,461 shares in the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 90,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,173,000 after buying an additional 1,106 shares during the period. Enterprise Financial Services Corp grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 10,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,750,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Argentarii LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at $2,218,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on PG. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.11.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. The trade was a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.68, for a total value of $6,078,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,829,817.68. This trade represents a 61.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 143,450 shares of company stock worth $23,988,008. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.8 %

PG stock opened at $176.06 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $412.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50-day moving average of $166.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $169.77. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $153.52 and a 52-week high of $180.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.66 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 64.01%.

Procter & Gamble Profile

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.