The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Sold by Bailard Inc.

Bailard Inc. reduced its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 161,422 shares of the company’s stock after selling 665 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $23,655,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Cardinal Capital Management increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 48,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,073,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. Altus Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Altus Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,460,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 5,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $744,000 after purchasing an additional 895 shares during the last quarter. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 42,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,180,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 9,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,424,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on PG shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. UBS Group lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.88.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total transaction of $7,020,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $151,788. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total transaction of $7,020,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $151,788. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total value of $4,581,309.81. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at $1,858,265.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 132,140 shares of company stock valued at $20,873,777. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

PG stock traded up $1.08 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $162.58. 7,216,558 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,971,658. 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 Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $141.45 and a 1-year high of $163.14. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $159.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.32. The firm has a market cap of $383.71 billion, a PE ratio of 26.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

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.