The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Position Cut by Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC

Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,792 shares of the company’s stock after selling 198 shares during the period. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $702,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.1% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 46,754,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,936,343,000 after acquiring an additional 510,559 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,320,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,717,246,000 after acquiring an additional 4,959,527 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 38,495,676 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 9.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,193,916,000 after acquiring an additional 3,047,557 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,313,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,275,616,000 after purchasing an additional 670,862 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at $25,097,637.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total value of $15,618,683.28. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at $25,097,637.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 $1,908,891.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Raymond James lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.53.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PG opened at $155.33 on Friday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $159.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $152.57. The company has a market cap of $365.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $21.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.48 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 34.04% and a net margin of 17.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.59 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio 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.