Blair William & Co. IL Decreases Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Blair William & Co. IL lessened its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 986,834 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,867 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $165,443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 229,794,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,524,976,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,061 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,538,327,000 after purchasing an additional 3,619,466 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,290,573,000 after buying an additional 1,760,214 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,692,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,133,850,000 after acquiring an additional 312,203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,881,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,830,252,000 after buying an additional 459,437 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PG opened at $166.48 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.76. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.47. The firm has a market cap of $390.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $153.52 and a 52 week high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were given a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total transaction of $3,089,880.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,274.66. This trade represents a 44.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total value of $14,819,328.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at $28,313,845.76. This trade represents a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 143,450 shares of company stock valued at $23,988,008. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on PG shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.47.

Procter & Gamble Profile

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.