The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Sold by Rice Partnership LLC

Rice Partnership LLC cut its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 15,284 shares of the company’s stock after selling 207 shares during the period. Rice Partnership LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $2,562,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. Costello Asset Management INC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2,142.9% in the 3rd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 58.0% in the 4th quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 138.7% during the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Eight research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.53.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 1.8 %

Procter & Gamble stock opened at $168.90 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $168.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $153.52 and a 12 month high of $180.43. The stock has a market cap of $396.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.45.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.66 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.17%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $2,210,944.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,002,804.35. This represents a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total value of $8,604,804.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at $7,189,463.68. This trade represents a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 151,097 shares of company stock worth $25,635,076 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

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