PFS Partners LLC Sells 172 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

PFS Partners LLC lessened its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 17.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 811 shares of the company’s stock after selling 172 shares during the quarter. PFS Partners LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $119,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 46,754,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,936,343,000 after buying an additional 510,559 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,320,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,717,246,000 after buying an additional 4,959,527 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 96,526.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,535,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,840,449,000 after buying an additional 38,495,676 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,193,916,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047,557 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,313,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,275,616,000 after purchasing an additional 670,862 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PG has been the subject of several research reports. 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 report on Thursday, January 18th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.35.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 0.3 %

PG stock traded down $0.39 during trading on Friday, reaching $155.45. The company had a trading volume of 925,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,794,954. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $141.45 and a 52 week high of $163.14. The company has a market cap of $365.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.04, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a 50 day moving average of $159.38 and a 200 day moving average of $152.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm 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. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 62.98%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total transaction of $620,719.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,908,891.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total transaction of $620,719.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,908,891.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total transaction of $15,618,683.28. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,097,637.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.