Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Cuts Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lessened its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 10.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,609 shares of the company’s stock after selling 317 shares during the quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $434,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,956,117,000. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 114.9% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,568,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $579,017,000 after acquiring an additional 1,907,716 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble during the first quarter valued at $233,788,000. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble during the first quarter valued at $228,212,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,492,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,390,963,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387,539 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.8 %

Procter & Gamble stock traded up $1.37 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $169.79. The company had a trading volume of 1,547,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,624,604. The firm has a market cap of $400.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.73. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $141.45 and a 1 year high of $171.72. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $167.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $163.36.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.69 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.71% and a return on equity of 33.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. On average, 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 19th were issued a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on PG. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $189.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $179.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $182.00 to $175.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.95.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 3,373 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $573,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 21,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,657,210. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the business’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 transaction of $1,458,045.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,451.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 3,373 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $573,410.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 21,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,657,210. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 84,389 shares of company stock worth $14,373,932. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Procter & Gamble Profile

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.