AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Has $248.24 Million Stock Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lowered its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 19.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,480,730 shares of the company’s stock after selling 346,435 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble makes up about 1.2% of AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $248,244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 972.0% during the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 268 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Costello Asset Management INC increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2,142.9% in the 3rd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 46.7% in the 4th quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total transaction of $8,604,804.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,189,463.68. This represents a 54.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at $28,313,845.76. This trade represents a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 151,097 shares of company stock worth $25,635,076 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock opened at $171.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $153.52 and a 1-year high of $180.43. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $166.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.44. The company has a market cap of $401.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.25, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.66 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 64.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.53.

About Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.