Procter & Gamble Company (The) $PG Shares Sold by Main Street Research LLC

Main Street Research LLC cut its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG) by 62.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 152,748 shares of the company’s stock after selling 254,164 shares during the quarter. Main Street Research LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $23,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at about $5,099,644,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 15,971.7% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,012,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,117,270,000 after purchasing an additional 6,969,110 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 233,211,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,155,222,000 after purchasing an additional 3,189,111 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 21.4% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 16,374,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,608,785,000 after purchasing an additional 2,880,895 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 66.3% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,504,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $877,014,000 after purchasing an additional 2,195,560 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 5,549 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.29, for a total value of $917,194.21. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,029 shares in the company, valued at $170,083.41. The trade was a 84.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 36,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.33, for a total value of $5,858,976.69. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 34,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,680,576.02. This represents a 50.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 348,618 shares of company stock worth $55,462,643 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PG has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, December 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $156.00 to $179.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.33.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE PG opened at $150.57 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $349.91 billion, a PE ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 0.37. Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $137.62 and a fifty-two week high of $174.80. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $153.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $151.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 23rd. 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 net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 32.21%. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $1.0568 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 23rd. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 62.52%.

About Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) is a multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble, P&G has grown into one of the world’s largest producers of branded consumer packaged goods. The company focuses on developing, manufacturing and marketing a broad portfolio of household and personal care products sold to consumers and retailers worldwide.

P&G’s product offering spans several core business categories, including Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric & Home Care, and Baby, Feminine & Family Care.