VeraBank N.A. Sells 61 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

VeraBank N.A. trimmed its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,319 shares of the company’s stock after selling 61 shares during the quarter. VeraBank N.A.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $2,161,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PG. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 9.4% in the third 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. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,956,117,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,209,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,336,552,000 after purchasing an additional 206,165 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,556,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,547,021,000 after purchasing an additional 559,358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,571,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,402,636,000 after purchasing an additional 246,323 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:PG traded up $1.07 on Wednesday, hitting $166.73. 5,036,807 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,528,171. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $159.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $393.51 billion, a PE ratio of 27.24, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.41. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $141.45 and a 52 week high of $169.41.

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

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 19th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total transaction of $135,517.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $634,634. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total value of $135,517.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $634,634. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of Procter & Gamble 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 approximately $1,858,265.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 154,544 shares of company stock worth $25,413,051 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.72.

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.