Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 1,760,214 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,760,214 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble accounts for about 0.9% of Franklin Resources Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $3,290,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Acorn Creek Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.8% during the third quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 2,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 5,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $963,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Hudson Value Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.1% in the second quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Traveka Wealth LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 1.7% during the third quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 3,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 0.7% in the third quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PG shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Wolfe Research upgraded Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays cut Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.45.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PG opened at $170.86 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $402.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.44. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $142.50 and a 52-week high of $180.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $170.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.51.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total transaction of $8,604,804.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,189,463.68. The trade was a 54.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total value of $2,163,072.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,954,538.34. This represents a 52.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 83,080 shares of company stock worth $14,629,038 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

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.