Wendell David Associates Inc. Decreases Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Wendell David Associates Inc. cut its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 93,280 shares of the company’s stock after selling 160 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble comprises 1.5% of Wendell David Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Wendell David Associates Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $15,638,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.5% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 94,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,300,000 after buying an additional 4,035 shares during the period. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the third quarter worth approximately $668,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter worth approximately $569,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,898,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $484,583,000 after buying an additional 201,695 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.4% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 185,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,065,000 after buying an additional 6,077 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PG has been the topic of several research reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.53.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of PG stock opened at $164.41 on Friday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $152.06 and a 1-year high of $180.43. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $168.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $387.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.45.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 32.88% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21,657,595.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 64.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total transaction of $8,604,804.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,189,463.68. The trade was a 54.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $2,210,944.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,002,804.35. The trade was a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.