Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Raises Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 188,435 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,954 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble makes up about 1.2% of Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $31,591,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bay Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at $464,000. Potentia Wealth purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at about $567,000. PKS Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $294,000. Syverson Strege & Co increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 1,688 shares of the company's stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Wealth Management Inc. CA raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 148.0% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. CA now owns 1,602 shares of the company's stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 956 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.68, for a total value of $6,078,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 22,051 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,829,817.68. This represents a 61.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. The trade was a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 143,450 shares of company stock valued at $23,988,008. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research 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 research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $181.47.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of PG stock traded down $2.75 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $162.90. The stock had a trading volume of 8,365,995 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,474,168. The firm has a market capitalization of $381.98 billion, a PE ratio of 25.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.49. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $153.52 and a twelve month high of $180.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.66 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. Procter & Gamble's revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. Procter & Gamble's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.01%.

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.