Prospector Partners LLC Boosts Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Prospector Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,175 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 440 shares during the period. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $6,296,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,534,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,106,000 after purchasing an additional 14,610 shares during the period. Kowal Investment Group LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 4.9% during the second quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 15,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,614,000 after buying an additional 744 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.2% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 112,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,487,000 after acquiring an additional 9,415 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 7,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,297,000 after acquiring an additional 705 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management Group Inc. boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 13,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,244,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on PG. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research raised Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.16.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of PG opened at $174.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12-month low of $141.45 and a 12-month high of $177.94. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $170.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $411.18 billion, a PE ratio of 28.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 17.71% and a return on equity of 33.46%. The business had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th were issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.69%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value of $1,458,045.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,537 shares in the company, valued at $1,902,451.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.89, for a total value of $6,289,463.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 263,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,508,763.93. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value of $1,458,045.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,451.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 375,553 shares of company stock worth $63,829,141 in the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.