Benjamin Edwards Inc. Boosts Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1,730.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 162,254 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 153,391 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $28,109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.8% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 33,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,433,000 after acquiring an additional 902 shares in the last quarter. Eastover Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Eastover Investment Advisors LLC now owns 42,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,978,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC now owns 3,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 30.8% in the 2nd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 25,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,180,000 after purchasing an additional 5,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 6,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,141,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

NYSE PG opened at $179.26 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $170.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.11. The stock has a market cap of $422.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.55 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 $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.99 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were given a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 1,992 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $338,640.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,343,110. The trade was a 12.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $2,210,944.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,002,804.35. This trade represents a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,233 shares of company stock valued at $6,024,234. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PG. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, October 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.45.

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.