Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Acquires 764 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 56,081 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 764 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $9,249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Alera Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $812,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Hudson Value Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.1% in the second quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 2,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 5,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $925,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Home Federal Bank of Tennessee raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Home Federal Bank of Tennessee now owns 23,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,846,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PG. Dbs Bank cut Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays lowered their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. DZ Bank raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $189.00 target price on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.16.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of PG opened at $174.22 on Friday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $141.45 and a 52 week high of $177.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $170.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $165.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $411.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.47, a P/E/G 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 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. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th were paid a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 96,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $16,320,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,721 shares in the company, valued at $2,332,570. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total transaction of $1,458,045.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,902,451.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 96,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $16,320,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,721 shares in the company, valued at $2,332,570. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 375,553 shares of company stock valued at $63,829,141 over the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by 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.