The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 956,336 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,574 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $140,141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PG. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 106.2% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,134,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $898,943,000 after buying an additional 3,159,796 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,047,557 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 13,850.3% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,747,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,601,000 after buying an additional 2,727,685 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 235.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,231,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $473,475,000 after buying an additional 2,268,805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the third quarter valued at about $246,412,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of PG stock traded down $1.26 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $161.29. The company had a trading volume of 5,659,784 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,820,118. The company has a 50 day moving average of $159.64 and a 200 day moving average of $153.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $380.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.44. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $141.45 and a 1-year high of $164.32.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.37 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total transaction of $122,693.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $768,256.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total value of $7,020,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $151,788. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total value of $122,693.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $768,256.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 100,865 shares of company stock valued at $16,029,280. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company 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.