Procter & Gamble Company (The) $PG Stake Lessened by Congress Asset Management Co.

Congress Asset Management Co. lessened its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG) by 24.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 28,295 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,255 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $4,055,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 234,630,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,050,992,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419,322 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 100,634,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,462,541,000 after buying an additional 370,872 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the second quarter valued at $5,099,644,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 8.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 22,850,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,510,955,000 after buying an additional 1,752,481 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.2% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 16,556,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,543,839,000 after buying an additional 189,968 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on PG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced 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 report on Monday, December 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, December 29th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.33.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of PG opened at $143.80 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $154.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $150.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $334.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.30, a P/E/G ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 0.37. Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $137.62 and a 1-year high of $174.80.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.88 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $1.0568 dividend. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 23rd. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 62.52%.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.31, for a total value of $2,056,296.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 12,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,026,158.09. This trade represents a 50.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 36,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.33, for a total transaction of $5,858,976.69. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 34,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,680,576.02. This trade represents a 50.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 348,618 shares of company stock worth $55,462,643. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.