The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Purchased by Covington Investment Advisors Inc.

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 36,498 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $6,321,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 19,030.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,693,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $639,730,000 after purchasing an additional 3,674,286 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 16,292.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 3,675,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $606,230,000 after buying an additional 3,653,477 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the third quarter valued at $301,950,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 416.1% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,818,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,016,000 after acquiring an additional 1,466,115 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 1st quarter worth about $233,788,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on PG shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Procter & Gamble from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. DZ Bank raised Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.45.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $177.40 on Tuesday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $142.50 and a 52-week high of $178.82. The stock has a market cap of $417.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.59, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a fifty day moving average of $170.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $168.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The firm had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 69.31%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total value of $108,826.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,319,882.65. The trade was a 3.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $2,210,944.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,002,804.35. The trade was a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 72,473 shares of company stock worth $12,313,697. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Profile

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.