Retirement Systems of Alabama Trims Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,031,597 shares of the company’s stock after selling 28,142 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble makes up approximately 0.6% of Retirement Systems of Alabama’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $172,947,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 416.1% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,818,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,016,000 after purchasing an additional 1,466,115 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 479,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,057,000 after buying an additional 29,799 shares during the period. Country Trust Bank increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.8% during the third quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 293,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,908,000 after buying an additional 5,258 shares during the period. City Holding Co. raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.5% in the third quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 58,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,095,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reliant Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 12.7% in the third quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC now owns 7,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,301,000 after acquiring an additional 844 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

NYSE PG opened at $169.07 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $396.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.92, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $167.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.41. 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 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The company had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 64.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight equities 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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 directly owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at $7,189,463.68. This represents a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,002,804.35. This trade represents a 52.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 151,097 shares of company stock valued at $25,635,076 over the last ninety days. Corporate 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.