Pictet North America Advisors SA Raises Stock Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Pictet North America Advisors SA increased its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 12.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,533 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,422 shares during the period. Pictet North America Advisors SA’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $3,494,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 9.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,193,916,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047,557 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at $3,956,117,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,209,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,336,552,000 after acquiring an additional 206,165 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,556,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,547,021,000 after acquiring an additional 559,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,571,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,402,636,000 after acquiring an additional 246,323 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PG. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Argus raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.72.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock traded up $0.74 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $166.40. The company had a trading volume of 1,061,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,496,853. The company has a market cap of $392.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.41. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $141.45 and a fifty-two week high of $169.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $165.97 and its 200-day moving average is $159.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The business had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.43 billion. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total transaction of $135,517.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $634,634. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total transaction of $135,517.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $634,634. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar G. Raman sold 31,924 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.95, for a total transaction of $5,329,711.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 19,042 shares in the company, valued at $3,179,061.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 154,544 shares of company stock valued at $25,413,051 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.