The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Purchased by Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co boosted its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 6.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,632 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,741 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $13,793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PG. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 64.7% during the 1st quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Vima LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PG opened at $175.93 on Wednesday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $141.45 and a twelve month high of $177.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $415.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $165.49.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.69 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 17.71%. The firm’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th were paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $573,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 21,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,657,210. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 3,373 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 21,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,657,210. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 72,174 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 263,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,002,649.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 375,553 shares of company stock worth $63,829,141 in the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on PG. BNP Paribas began coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $182.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $179.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.79.

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.