Stone House Investment Management LLC Sells 9,559 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Stone House Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 195,635 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,559 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble comprises about 9.9% of Stone House Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Stone House Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $28,668,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 96,526.4% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,535,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,840,449,000 after buying an additional 38,495,676 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at $3,752,321,000. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,320,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,717,246,000 after purchasing an additional 4,959,527 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 118.1% in the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,334,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $961,170,000 after purchasing an additional 3,429,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 106.2% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,134,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $898,943,000 after purchasing an additional 3,159,796 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Raymond James increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.53.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total transaction of $3,549,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,845 shares in the company, valued at $5,943,835.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total transaction of $3,549,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 36,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,943,835.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total transaction of $15,618,683.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,097,637.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of PG traded up $0.75 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $156.70. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,018,975 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,813,979. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $141.45 and a twelve month high of $163.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $368.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a fifty day moving average of $159.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $152.77.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $21.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.48 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 34.04%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.59 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $1.0065 dividend. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.98%.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.