Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Sells 6,395 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co lowered its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG - Free Report) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,742 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,395 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co's holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $12,698,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.0% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,327 shares of the company's stock worth $1,442,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,734,588 shares of the company's stock valued at $820,031,000 after purchasing an additional 608,168 shares during the period. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the third quarter valued at $201,000. Invst LLC boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 15,889 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,752,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,632,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.38, for a total value of $161,380.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,965 shares in the company, valued at $8,386,111.70. The trade was a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total transaction of $3,089,880.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,785,274.66. The trade was a 44.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,000 shares of company stock worth $9,330,060. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PG. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $161.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $209.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $172.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $179.80.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:PG traded up $0.61 on Friday, hitting $160.59. 5,744,311 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,164,051. The company has a market cap of $376.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $167.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $167.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $156.58 and a 52 week high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.01. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm had revenue of $19.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.0568 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. Procter & Gamble's payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Procter & Gamble Profile

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.