The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Sold by Washington Trust Advisors Inc.

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,271 shares of the company’s stock after selling 86 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $2,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 96,526.4% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,535,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,840,449,000 after purchasing an additional 38,495,676 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,752,321,000. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,320,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,717,246,000 after purchasing an additional 4,959,527 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 118.1% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,334,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $961,170,000 after buying an additional 3,429,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,193,916,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047,557 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,943,835.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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 stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total value of $3,549,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,845 shares in the company, valued at $5,943,835.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total value of $620,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,908,891.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745 over the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE PG traded down $0.45 during trading on Thursday, hitting $162.16. The stock had a trading volume of 3,028,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,838,343. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $158.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $381.57 billion, a PE ratio of 27.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.44. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $141.45 and a 12 month high of $163.14.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.14. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 34.04%. The company had revenue of $21.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.59 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 19th were given a dividend of $0.9407 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.98%.

Procter & Gamble 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.