WASHINGTON TRUST Co Purchases 1,855 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 86,980 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,855 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $12,746,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 18,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,842,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the first quarter valued at $3,073,000. Finally, Wsfs Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 12.0% in the first quarter. Wsfs Capital Management LLC now owns 4,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $650,000 after buying an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on PG. UBS Group lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Procter & Gamble in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price target on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total value of $3,549,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,943,835.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total value of $3,549,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,943,835.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 74,443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.30, for a total transaction of $11,412,111.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,160.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

PG traded down $0.27 on Thursday, hitting $162.34. 2,844,638 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,835,724. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $141.45 and a one year high of $163.14. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $158.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $152.09. The firm has a market cap of $381.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.14. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 34.04%. The company had revenue of $21.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.59 EPS. Procter & Gamble’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 19th were given a dividend of $0.9407 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 18th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.98%.

Procter & Gamble 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.