Arizona State Retirement System Increases Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 682,155 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,808 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble accounts for about 0.8% of Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $112,501,000 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. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 64.7% in the 1st 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 purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $179.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. BNP Paribas began coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen began coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $189.00 target price for the company. Finally, DZ Bank raised Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.79.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value of $1,458,045.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,902,451.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 263,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,508,763.93. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the 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 directly owns 11,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,902,451.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 375,553 shares of company stock valued at $63,829,141 over the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock opened at $175.48 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $168.05 and a 200 day moving average of $164.52. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $141.45 and a 12 month high of $176.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $414.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 17.71%. Procter & Gamble’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.37 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th were issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.85%.

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.