United Asset Strategies Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

United Asset Strategies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,400 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 161 shares during the quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $3,187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,632,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,567,556,000 after purchasing an additional 122,190 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 8.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,691,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,598,510,000 after buying an additional 733,440 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.7% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,161,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $999,705,000 after buying an additional 545,601 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.3% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,008,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $974,914,000 after acquiring an additional 79,665 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 3.9% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,706,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $941,066,000 after acquiring an additional 216,300 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on PG shares. Barclays downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $189.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of 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 given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.00.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.1 %

PG traded up $0.09 on Thursday, hitting $166.25. 1,122,525 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,627,652. 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 12 month low of $142.50 and a 12 month high of $177.94. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $171.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $391.53 billion, a PE ratio of 28.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 96,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $16,320,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,721 shares in the company, valued at $2,332,570. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 96,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $16,320,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,332,570. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 72,174 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.01, for a total value of $12,342,475.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 263,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,002,649.58. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 389,144 shares of company stock worth $66,184,385. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Procter & Gamble Profile

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.