The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Position Trimmed by Fmr LLC

Fmr LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,322,714 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,233,605 shares during the period. Fmr LLC owned about 1.04% of Procter & Gamble worth $4,077,703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at $5,244,463,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth about $1,010,685,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 3,619,466 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1,195.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 3,222,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $580,596,000 after acquiring an additional 2,973,757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 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. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.00.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 5.0 %

Shares of PG stock opened at $163.73 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $169.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $383.92 billion, a PE ratio of 26.07, a PEG 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.66 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 64.01%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 172,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.68, for a total transaction of $6,078,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at $3,829,817.68. The trade was a 61.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 143,450 shares of company stock valued at $23,988,008 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.