ING Groep NV Acquires 533,999 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

ING Groep NV lifted its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 142.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 909,729 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 533,999 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble makes up 0.9% of ING Groep NV’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $157,565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PG. Acorn Creek Capital LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.8% during the third quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 2,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 5,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $963,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Alera Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $812,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Traveka Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.7% in the third quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 3,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays downgraded Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.00.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of PG stock traded up $0.82 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $167.40. 1,565,487 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,635,496. The company has a market cap of $394.23 billion, a PE ratio of 28.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $170.61 and a 200 day moving average of $168.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $142.50 and a 52-week high of $177.94.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The business had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $44,508,763.93. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 263,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,508,763.93. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total value of $2,163,072.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,954,538.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 313,597 shares of company stock valued at $53,268,499 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Procter & Gamble

The Procter & Gamble Company engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. The company 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, SK-II, and Native brands.