Magnetar Financial LLC Acquires New Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 8,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,428,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PG. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 14.0% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 1,150,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,665,000 after acquiring an additional 141,323 shares during the period. Harmony Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 23.9% during the 2nd quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 2,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the period. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 751.9% during the 2nd quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 41,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,626 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 36.7% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,352,000 after buying an additional 3,932 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock opened at $173.77 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $170.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $165.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $410.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $141.45 and a 12 month high of $177.94.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th were paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 65.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on PG. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $182.00 to $175.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 target price on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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