The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Stake Raised by Flputnam Investment Management Co.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 166,939 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 13,836 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $27,987,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,538,327,000 after acquiring an additional 3,619,466 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,556,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,599,554,000 after purchasing an additional 689,282 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 10.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,290,573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760,214 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,380,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,183,522,000 after purchasing an additional 830,476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,422,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,844,442,000 after buying an additional 105,734 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PG has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at $28,313,845.76. The trade was a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total value of $3,089,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,274.66. This represents a 44.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:PG opened at $173.84 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $166.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $407.63 billion, a PE ratio of 27.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.45. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $153.52 and a fifty-two week high of $180.43.

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

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 64.01%.

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.