Investment Partners LTD. Sells 2,693 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Investment Partners LTD. reduced its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 24.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,173 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,693 shares during the quarter. Investment Partners LTD.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at $3,956,117,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 106.2% during 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. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,193,916,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047,557 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 13,850.3% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,747,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,601,000 after purchasing an additional 2,727,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 235.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,231,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $473,475,000 after purchasing an additional 2,268,805 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,858,265.43. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,858,265.43. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar G. Raman sold 31,924 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.95, for a total value of $5,329,711.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,179,061.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 154,544 shares of company stock valued at $25,413,051. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock traded down $0.83 on Thursday, hitting $166.62. The company had a trading volume of 4,969,691 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,575,230. The stock has a market capitalization of $393.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.42. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $141.45 and a 1 year high of $169.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $165.28 and a 200-day moving average of $158.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on PG. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 price target on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.72.

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.