Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,793 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,687 shares during the quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $4,805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. KFG Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $991,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV now owns 2,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 62,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,130,000 after acquiring an additional 10,719 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 241,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,233,000 after acquiring an additional 929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 56,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,210,000 after buying an additional 742 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,858,265.43. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $151,788. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total value of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,858,265.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 100,865 shares of company stock worth $16,029,280. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

PG stock traded down $1.26 during trading on Friday, hitting $161.29. The company had a trading volume of 5,659,784 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,820,118. The firm has a market cap of $380.67 billion, a PE ratio of 26.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.44. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $141.45 and a 1-year high of $164.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $159.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $20.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 65.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PG. UBS Group upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.76.

About Procter & Gamble

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.