Gradient Investments LLC Cuts Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Gradient Investments LLC cut its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG – Get Rating) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 73,978 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,056 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $11,212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 224,570,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,351,991,000 after purchasing an additional 2,197,165 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.1% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 161,904,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,440,487,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811,085 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 104,749,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,224,594,000 after purchasing an additional 797,652 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 18,536,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,665,327,000 after purchasing an additional 637,095 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 22.6% in the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 16,567,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,382,268,000 after purchasing an additional 3,054,844 shares during the period. 62.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 435 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.82, for a total value of $61,691.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,840 shares in the company, valued at $1,537,328.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 2,151 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.34, for a total transaction of $295,418.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 226,748 shares in the company, valued at $31,141,570.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 435 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.82, for a total transaction of $61,691.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,537,328.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,766 shares of company stock worth $656,511 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $155.00 in a report on Friday, March 3rd. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $158.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 23rd. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, November 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $156.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $149.00 to $164.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.67.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.0 %

NYSE PG opened at $142.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $337.19 billion, a PE ratio of 25.08, a PEG ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.40. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $122.18 and a 1 year high of $164.90. The business’s 50-day moving average is $141.73 and its 200 day moving average is $140.63.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 19th. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $20.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.75 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 17.79%. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 20th were issued a $0.9133 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 19th. This represents a $3.65 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.04%.

Procter & Gamble Profile

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Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric & Home Care, and Baby, Feminine & 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.