B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Takes $301.95 Million Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,743,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $301,950,000. Procter & Gamble comprises 3.0% of B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG owned about 0.07% of Procter & Gamble at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PG. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,632,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,567,556,000 after buying an additional 122,190 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 8.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,691,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,598,510,000 after purchasing an additional 733,440 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 7,005,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,213,403,000 after purchasing an additional 39,000 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,008,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $974,914,000 after purchasing an additional 79,665 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 5,716,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $990,150,000 after buying an additional 72,851 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $189.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $182.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Dbs Bank cut Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, DZ Bank raised Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.00.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of PG stock opened at $170.80 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $170.21 and its 200 day moving average is $168.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $402.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.45, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.42. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $142.50 and a 52-week high of $177.94.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 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 firm had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.99 billion. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 69.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 96,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $16,320,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,332,570. This trade represents a 87.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 87,979 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.40, for a total transaction of $14,991,621.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 300,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,252,400.80. This trade represents a 22.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 270,727 shares of company stock worth $46,014,037 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble 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.