Twin Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Twin Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 61,148 shares of the company’s stock after selling 805 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble accounts for 1.2% of Twin Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $8,961,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. AMI Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $529,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 18,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 1st quarter valued at $3,073,000. Finally, Wsfs Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Wsfs Capital Management LLC now owns 4,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $650,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In related news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total transaction of $15,618,683.28. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at $25,097,637.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total value of $15,618,683.28. Following the sale, the insider now owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at $25,097,637.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total transaction of $620,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,908,891.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of PG stock traded up $0.59 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $156.54. The stock had a trading volume of 3,106,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,800,038. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $159.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.80. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $141.45 and a 52-week high of $163.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $368.34 billion, a PE ratio of 26.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.14. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 34.04%. The firm had revenue of $21.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $1.0065 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 62.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.53.

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.