Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Grows Stock Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 183,192 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,850 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $26,845,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 9.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,193,916,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047,557 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,313,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,275,616,000 after purchasing an additional 670,862 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,003,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,298,184,000 after purchasing an additional 131,339 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.2% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,170,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,629,299,000 after acquiring an additional 346,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,556,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,547,021,000 after acquiring an additional 559,358 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on PG shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. StockNews.com lowered Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.76.

Insider Activity

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total value of $3,549,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,845 shares in the company, valued at $5,943,835.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Procter & Gamble news, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,859 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value of $5,253,549.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 9,739 shares in the company, valued at $1,605,961.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total value of $3,549,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 36,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,943,835.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 118,724 shares of company stock worth $19,312,729. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PG traded up $0.88 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $165.32. The company had a trading volume of 4,036,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,868,478. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $390.18 billion, a PE ratio of 27.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $160.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $154.37. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $141.45 and a 1-year high of $166.04.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

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.