Investment Partners LTD. Trims Stock Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Investment Partners LTD. decreased its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 24.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,173 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,693 shares during the period. Investment Partners LTD.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,326,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Edge Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.3% in the first quarter. Edge Wealth Management LLC now owns 59,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,630,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,649,000 after acquiring an additional 645 shares during the last quarter. Colorado Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 1st quarter valued at $1,013,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,493,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,367,000 after acquiring an additional 19,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 64,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar G. Raman sold 31,924 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.95, for a total transaction of $5,329,711.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,179,061.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Sundar G. Raman sold 31,924 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.95, for a total transaction of $5,329,711.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,042 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,179,061.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,858,265.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 154,544 shares of company stock valued at $25,413,051. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PG. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 target price on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.72.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of PG stock traded down $0.83 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $166.62. 4,969,691 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,575,230. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $141.45 and a 1-year high of $169.41. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $165.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $158.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $393.25 billion, a PE ratio of 27.31, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th were given a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

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.