ING Groep NV Reduces Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

ING Groep NV lowered its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 21.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 715,972 shares of the company’s stock after selling 193,757 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble comprises 0.8% of ING Groep NV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $120,033,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 416.1% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,818,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,016,000 after buying an additional 1,466,115 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,503,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,432,000 after buying an additional 56,583 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,442,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 42,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,333,000 after buying an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RBA Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,016,000 after buying an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PG has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.53.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of PG stock opened at $166.46 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $166.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.44. The stock has a market cap of $390.33 billion, a PE ratio of 26.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.45. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $153.52 and a 1 year high of $180.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.17%.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on 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 owns 39,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,189,463.68. The trade was a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 90,450 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total value of $14,819,328.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble 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.