SlateStone Wealth LLC Purchases 1,141 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,056 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,141 shares during the quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $7,431,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,956,117,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 114.9% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,568,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $579,017,000 after acquiring an additional 1,907,716 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 1st quarter worth about $233,788,000. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 1st quarter worth about $228,212,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 32.7% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,615,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $830,256,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385,146 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $182.00 to $175.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $189.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $179.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Nine research 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 14,034 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.78, for a total value of $2,382,692.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,673,351.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 11,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,451.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 14,034 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.78, for a total transaction of $2,382,692.52. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,673,351.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 237,293 shares of company stock valued at $40,331,085. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

PG stock traded up $1.18 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $170.35. 5,424,970 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,597,088. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $141.45 and a 52-week high of $171.89. The stock has a market cap of $402.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.83, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $167.35 and its 200 day moving average is $163.77.

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

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 19th were given 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 payout ratio is currently 65.69%.

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.