West Paces Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

West Paces Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,666 shares of the company’s stock after selling 70 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble accounts for about 0.5% of West Paces Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. West Paces Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,710,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 510,559 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings 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 lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 38,495,676 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 9.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,193,916,000 after acquiring an additional 3,047,557 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,313,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,275,616,000 after purchasing an additional 670,862 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total value of $122,693.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at $768,256.49. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at $25,097,637.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total value of $122,693.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $768,256.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 279,063 shares of company stock valued at $43,187,745 in the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE PG traded up $0.50 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $155.95. The stock had a trading volume of 5,576,704 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,847,628. The company has a market capitalization of $366.95 billion, a PE ratio of 26.17, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.44. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $141.45 and a twelve month high of $163.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $159.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $152.70.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PG shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price objective on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.53.

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.