New York State Teachers Retirement System Lowers Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 4.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,090,845 shares of the company’s stock after selling 102,373 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble accounts for approximately 0.7% of New York State Teachers Retirement System’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $362,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Steele Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the first quarter valued at about $204,000. Welch Group LLC boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 0.9% in the third quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 323,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,094,000 after buying an additional 2,990 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 67.2% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 26,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,420,000 after buying an additional 10,777 shares during the last quarter. Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 27.7% in the first quarter. Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 416.1% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,818,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,016,000 after buying an additional 1,466,115 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $189.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $159.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $182.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.00.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value of $1,458,045.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,537 shares in the company, valued at $1,902,451.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total value of $108,826.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,341 shares in the company, valued at $3,319,882.65. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 397,986 shares of company stock worth $67,642,430 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PG traded down $0.41 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $166.76. 492,404 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,630,265. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $171.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.87. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $142.50 and a 1 year high of $177.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $392.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.82, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. Equities analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.48%.

Procter & Gamble Profile

The Procter & Gamble Company engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. The company 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, SK-II, and Native brands.