Sandy Spring Bank Trims Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Sandy Spring Bank reduced its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 57,170 shares of the company’s stock after selling 838 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $8,378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Emerald Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.1% during the second quarter. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $912,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.2% during the third quarter. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Chemistry Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $856,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total transaction of $15,618,683.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 163,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,097,637.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total value of $15,618,683.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 163,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,097,637.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 74,443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.30, for a total value of $11,412,111.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 ninety days, insiders sold 279,063 shares of company stock valued at $43,187,745. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PG. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.35.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE PG opened at $155.82 on Friday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $141.45 and a 12 month high of $163.14. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $152.54. The company has a market capitalization of $366.65 billion, a PE ratio of 26.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

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

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 62.98%.

Procter & Gamble Company 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.