West Coast Financial LLC Sells 2,814 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

West Coast Financial LLC lowered its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,719 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,814 shares during the quarter. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $4,077,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PG. Cidel Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 3.6% in the second quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 76,204 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,568,000 after purchasing an additional 2,615 shares during the last quarter. Sunpointe LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.3% in the second quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 2,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $462,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 2.4% during the second quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 92,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,513,000 after acquiring an additional 2,168 shares during the last quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 4.8% in the second quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Finally, Colonial River Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 1.2% in the second quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,323,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of PG stock traded up $1.99 on Tuesday, reaching $170.41. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,508,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,642,878. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $167.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.36. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $141.45 and a 1 year high of $171.72. The company has a market capitalization of $402.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.69 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.71% and a return on equity of 33.46%. The business’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th were paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.69%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total transaction of $1,458,045.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,451.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 3,373 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $573,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 21,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,657,210. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total transaction of $1,458,045.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,537 shares in the company, valued at $1,902,451.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 84,389 shares of company stock worth $14,373,932. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PG. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $179.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.95.

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.