The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Stake Lifted by State of Michigan Retirement System

State of Michigan Retirement System increased its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 661,737 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,600 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble makes up about 0.6% of State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $110,940,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,538,327,000 after purchasing an additional 3,619,466 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 10.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,290,573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760,214 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the third quarter worth $301,950,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 25,115.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,736,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,184,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729,969 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Icon Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4,621.9% in the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,285,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,722,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258,690 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.11.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 1.0 %

PG opened at $175.50 on Tuesday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $153.52 and a fifty-two week high of $180.43. The business has a 50-day moving average of $166.44 and a 200-day moving average of $169.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $411.52 billion, a PE ratio of 27.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.45.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The company had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.66 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 64.01%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total transaction of $3,089,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 22,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,274.66. This represents a 44.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total value of $14,819,328.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 143,450 shares of company stock valued at $23,988,008. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Profile

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.