Advisory Services Network LLC Purchases 6,412 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Advisory Services Network LLC raised its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 6.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 109,488 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,412 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $17,765,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth $3,956,117,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 106.2% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,134,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $898,943,000 after buying an additional 3,159,796 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 13,850.3% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,747,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,601,000 after acquiring an additional 2,727,685 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 235.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,231,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $473,475,000 after acquiring an additional 2,268,805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,492,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,390,963,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387,539 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Sundar G. Raman sold 31,924 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.95, for a total value of $5,329,711.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,179,061.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Sundar G. Raman sold 31,924 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.95, for a total transaction of $5,329,711.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 19,042 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,179,061.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at $1,858,265.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 154,544 shares of company stock worth $25,413,051. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.7 %

PG opened at $166.64 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $141.45 and a twelve month high of $169.41. The company has a market cap of $393.29 billion, a PE ratio of 27.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $166.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $160.09.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The firm had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 19th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 65.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.74.

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.