Salomon & Ludwin LLC Sells 708 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Salomon & Ludwin LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 22.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,390 shares of the company’s stock after selling 708 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $401,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,538,327,000 after acquiring an additional 3,619,466 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,556,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,599,554,000 after acquiring an additional 689,282 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 10.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,290,573,000 after acquiring an additional 1,760,214 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,380,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,183,522,000 after acquiring an additional 830,476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,422,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,844,442,000 after acquiring an additional 105,734 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 4.8 %

PG opened at $162.84 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $381.84 billion, a PE ratio of 25.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $153.52 and a 52 week high of $180.43. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $166.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.45.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The business had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PG shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.53.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total value of $14,819,328.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,313,845.76. This trade represents a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total value of $8,604,804.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at $7,189,463.68. The trade was a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 151,097 shares of company stock valued at $25,635,076. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.