Main Street Financial Solutions LLC Increases Stock Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 9.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 25,498 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,288 shares during the quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $4,205,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,956,117,000. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 114.9% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,568,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $579,017,000 after buying an additional 1,907,716 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the first quarter valued at approximately $233,788,000. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the first quarter worth approximately $228,212,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,560,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $902,254,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089,102 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock opened at $173.88 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $410.38 billion, a PE ratio of 28.41, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $169.01 and a 200 day moving average of $165.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $141.45 and a 12 month high of $177.94.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 17.71%. The firm had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th were issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 65.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.89, for a total value of $6,289,463.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 263,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,508,763.93. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total transaction of $1,458,045.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,451.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.89, for a total transaction of $6,289,463.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 263,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,508,763.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 375,553 shares of company stock worth $63,829,141. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 price objective for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.79.

Procter & Gamble 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.