LPL Financial LLC Acquires 174,252 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,031,301 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 174,252 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $499,922,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Alera Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $812,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Hudson Value Partners LLC raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 4.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.8% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 2,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Home Federal Bank of Tennessee raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Home Federal Bank of Tennessee now owns 23,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,846,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

PG stock opened at $177.83 on Wednesday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $141.45 and a 1-year high of $177.94. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $168.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $164.95. The firm has a market cap of $419.70 billion, a PE ratio of 29.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.69 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 17.71%. The company’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 19th were issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly 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 is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total transaction of $1,458,045.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,902,451.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 72,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.01, for a total transaction of $12,342,475.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 263,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,002,649.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 375,553 shares of company stock valued at $63,829,141 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on PG. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. StockNews.com cut Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.79.

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.