First Merchants Corp Has $10.83 Million Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

First Merchants Corp cut its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 65,651 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,798 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $10,827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 64.7% during the 1st quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 11,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,451.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 3,373 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $573,410.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 21,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,657,210. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value of $1,458,045.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,537 shares in the company, valued at $1,902,451.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 223,259 shares of company stock worth $37,948,393 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE PG traded down $0.98 during trading on Friday, reaching $169.17. The company had a trading volume of 4,771,267 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,597,829. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $167.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $163.65. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $141.45 and a 12 month high of $171.89. The stock has a market cap of $399.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.64, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 17.71%. The company had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect 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 given 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 2.38%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 65.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on PG. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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 report on Wednesday, July 24th. Dbs Bank cut Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.95.

About Procter & Gamble

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.