BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Acquires 55,825 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 6.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 885,429 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 55,825 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $153,356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

NYSE PG opened at $170.92 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $142.50 and a 1-year high of $177.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $402.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.47, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $170.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $168.51.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The business had revenue of $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.99 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 69.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on PG. Wolfe Research upgraded Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total value of $108,826.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,319,882.65. This represents a 3.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 14,034 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.78, for a total transaction of $2,382,692.52. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,856 shares in the company, valued at $1,673,351.68. This represents a 58.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 174,727 shares of company stock valued at $29,694,037 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

The Procter & Gamble Company engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. The company 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, SK-II, and Native brands.