Rakuten Securities Inc. Acquires New Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $437,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wyrmwood Management LLC bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Mendota Financial Group LLC grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 636.6% in the fourth quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 302 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the second quarter worth approximately $50,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 206.6% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 417 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 49.7% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 455 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on PG. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.53.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total value of $3,549,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,943,835.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total value of $3,549,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,943,835.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total transaction of $122,693.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $768,256.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 279,063 shares of company stock valued at $43,187,745. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

PG traded up $0.50 on Wednesday, hitting $155.95. 6,103,296 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,114,070. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $141.45 and a 12 month high of $163.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $159.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $152.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $366.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.12, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.14. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 34.04%. The business had revenue of $21.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.59 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 62.98%.

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.