The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Purchased by Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 145,996 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble makes up approximately 0.8% of Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $24,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,956,117,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,552,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,546,302,000 after purchasing an additional 554,451 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,571,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,402,636,000 after purchasing an additional 246,323 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 6,987,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,023,949,000 after acquiring an additional 223,798 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,161,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $999,705,000 after acquiring an additional 545,601 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $179.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.79.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,508,763.93. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.89, for a total transaction of $6,289,463.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 263,537 shares in the company, valued at $44,508,763.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 375,553 shares of company stock valued at $63,829,141. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.5 %

PG stock traded up $0.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $176.41. 583,533 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,560,974. The company has a market capitalization of $416.35 billion, a PE ratio of 28.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 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 twelve month low of $141.45 and a twelve month high of $176.83. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $168.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $164.52.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.69 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.71% and a return on equity of 33.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 19th were issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.85%.

Procter & Gamble Company 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.