Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Purchases 32,478 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 606,621 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,478 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $95,380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $17,696,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 52,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,743,000 after buying an additional 15,900 shares during the period. Steele Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 1st quarter valued at about $204,000. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 17,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,523,000 after buying an additional 1,237 shares during the period. Finally, Mosley Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $537,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,902,451.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value of $1,458,045.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,902,451.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Andre Schulten sold 13,041 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 37,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,325,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 375,553 shares of company stock valued at $63,829,141 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:PG opened at $175.93 on Wednesday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $141.45 and a 12 month high of $177.94. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $169.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $165.49. 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 company has a market capitalization of $415.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.75, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41.

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

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th were issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $179.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $189.00 price target for the company. DZ Bank raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $182.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.79.

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.