Prio Wealth Limited Partnership Cuts Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Prio Wealth Limited Partnership cut its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 39.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 63,042 shares of the company’s stock after selling 40,366 shares during the period. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $9,374,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 46,243,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,997,559,000 after purchasing an additional 323,292 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,320,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,717,246,000 after buying an additional 4,959,527 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 96,526.4% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,535,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,840,449,000 after acquiring an additional 38,495,676 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 33,776,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,022,242,000 after acquiring an additional 547,738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,752,321,000. 63.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $174.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Tuesday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $165.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $164.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $161.00 in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CFO Andre Schulten sold 806 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.85, for a total transaction of $123,197.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,336,813.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Andre Schulten sold 806 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.85, for a total transaction of $123,197.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 28,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,336,813.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.19, for a total transaction of $1,985,152.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,051,486.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 106,607 shares of company stock valued at $16,523,793 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Procter & Gamble stock traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $154.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,126,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,275,717. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.63. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $122.18 and a fifty-two week high of $158.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $364.23 billion, a PE ratio of 26.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $152.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $149.37.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 28th. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $20.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.01 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 32.88% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 21st were issued a dividend of $0.9407 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 20th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.73%.

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.