Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,117,573 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 186,446 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.17% of Procter & Gamble worth $603,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PG. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.8% in the third quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC now owns 19,622 shares of the company's stock worth $2,862,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 112,894 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,467,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Alpha Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,435 shares of the company's stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC now owns 8,548 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,247,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keel Point LLC grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 8,720 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,272,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 21,388 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.98, for a total transaction of $3,528,592.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,854 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,080,172.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 21,388 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.98, for a total value of $3,528,592.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,854 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,080,172.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total transaction of $122,693.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $768,256.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 140,112 shares of company stock valued at $22,841,321. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

NYSE:PG traded down $0.98 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $165.87. The stock had a trading volume of 5,718,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,812,748. The stock has a market capitalization of $391.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.84. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $141.45 and a 52 week high of $167.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. Procter & Gamble's quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. Procter & Gamble's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.69%.

Procter & Gamble Profile

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.

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