Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Decreases Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC decreased its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 166,118 shares of the company’s stock after selling 651 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble accounts for approximately 0.9% of Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $24,343,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 9.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,313,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,275,616,000 after purchasing an additional 670,862 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,003,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,298,184,000 after buying an additional 131,339 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,170,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,629,299,000 after buying an additional 346,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,556,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,547,021,000 after acquiring an additional 559,358 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total transaction of $620,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,908,891.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.90, for a total transaction of $5,049,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,586,483.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total transaction of $620,719.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,908,891.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 86,865 shares of company stock valued at $14,059,180. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PG traded up $0.62 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $164.46. 5,581,692 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,941,715. The stock has a market capitalization of $388.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.87, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.43. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $141.45 and a 1-year high of $164.71. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $160.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders 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 2.45%. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Argus raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.76.

About Procter & Gamble

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.