Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Increases Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co raised its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,632 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,741 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $13,793,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 5.7% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 606,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,380,000 after purchasing an additional 32,478 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 5.0% in the second quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 12.8% in the second quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 14,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,419,000 after purchasing an additional 1,662 shares during the last quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 5.1% in the second quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC now owns 37,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,191,000 after purchasing an additional 1,820 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lumbard & Kellner LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the second quarter valued at approximately $413,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of PG stock opened at $175.93 on Wednesday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $141.45 and a fifty-two week high of $177.94. The stock has a market cap of $415.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $169.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $165.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 17.71%. The business had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. 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 is presently 65.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 96,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,332,570. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 72,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 263,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,002,649.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 96,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $16,320,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,721 shares in the company, valued at $2,332,570. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 375,553 shares of company stock worth $63,829,141. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PG shares. Dbs Bank downgraded Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $179.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BNP Paribas began coverage on Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Seven 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.com, Procter & Gamble 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.