Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. Decreases Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,016 shares of the company’s stock after selling 196 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble accounts for about 1.5% of Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $5,775,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at $3,956,117,000. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 114.9% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,568,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $579,017,000 after purchasing an additional 1,907,716 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the first quarter worth about $233,788,000. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble in the first quarter worth about $228,212,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,615,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $830,256,000 after buying an additional 1,385,146 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CFO Andre Schulten sold 13,041 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $2,216,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 37,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,325,360. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total transaction of $1,458,045.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,902,451.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andre Schulten sold 13,041 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $2,216,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,325,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 375,553 shares of company stock valued at $63,829,141. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $179.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $182.00 to $175.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.79.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

NYSE PG opened at $171.54 on Friday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $141.45 and a 12 month high of $171.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $404.86 billion, a PE ratio of 28.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $167.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $164.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $20.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th were given a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.85%.

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.