Procter & Gamble Company (The) $PG Stock Acquired by Welch Group LLC

Key Points

• Welch Group increased its Procter & Gamble stake by 2.2% in the third quarter, bringing its holdings to 387,878 shares valued at approximately $56.4 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 65.77% of PG.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable overall, with PG receiving a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $170.57, despite some recent target reductions and HSBC’s downgrade to “hold.”
• Procter & Gamble exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.00 EPS and $23.28 billion in revenue, while announcing a quarterly dividend of $1.0885 per share, equivalent to a 2.7% annualized yield.

Welch Group LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG - Free Report) by 2.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 387,878 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 8,402 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble makes up about 1.9% of Welch Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Welch Group LLC's holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $56,351,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,862,105,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 102,216,308 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,988,999,000 after purchasing an additional 965,461 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,850,628,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,281,505,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,797,916 shares of the company's stock worth $1,704,182,000 after buying an additional 300,280 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $166.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $149.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, August 24th. HSBC lowered Procter & Gamble from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $182.00 to $149.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $161.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $170.57.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of PG opened at $161.42 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $374.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.36. Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $137.62 and a twelve month high of $167.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $149.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.94.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.11. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 31.02% and a net margin of 18.23%. The business had revenue of $23.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $22.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.99 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 23rd will be paid a $1.0885 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 23rd. This represents a $4.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Procter & Gamble's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 4,181 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.71, for a total transaction of $671,928.51. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 11,296 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,815,380.16. The trade was a 27.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Susan Whaley sold 2,369 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.34, for a total value of $344,310.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 30,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,466,298.20. This represents a 7.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders sold 58,647 shares of company stock worth $9,268,508. Insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

Procter & Gamble Company NYSE: PG is a global consumer products company that develops, manufactures and markets branded products used in households and personal care. Its portfolio includes personal health and grooming products, beauty and skin care items, baby, feminine and family care products, fabric and home care products, and oral care products.

The company's well-known brands include Pampers, Tide, Gillette, Crest, Oral-B, Head & Shoulders, Pantene, Olay, Old Spice, Dawn, Febreze and Mr.

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