Swiss National Bank Acquires 39,000 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,005,790 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,000 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble comprises approximately 0.8% of Swiss National Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,213,403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,632,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,567,556,000 after purchasing an additional 122,190 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,691,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,598,510,000 after purchasing an additional 733,440 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,008,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $974,914,000 after acquiring an additional 79,665 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 5,716,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $990,150,000 after acquiring an additional 72,851 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,706,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $941,066,000 after acquiring an additional 216,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE PG opened at $169.54 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $170.32 and a 200-day moving average of $168.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $399.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.42. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $142.50 and a 52 week high of $177.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released 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. The company had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on PG shares. Barclays downgraded Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Dbs Bank downgraded Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wolfe Research upgraded Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $159.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total transaction of $2,163,072.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,954,538.34. The trade was a 52.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 450 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.22, for a total value of $76,149.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,212,043.84. This represents a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 313,597 shares of company stock valued at $53,268,499 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.