The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 10.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,460,477 shares of the company’s stock after selling 403,934 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble comprises 0.7% of New York State Common Retirement Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $507,098,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PG. Dfpg Investments LLC increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 24,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,680,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the period. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 94,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,772,000 after buying an additional 12,016 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,003,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,298,184,000 after buying an additional 131,339 shares during the period. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 105.5% during the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 59,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,699,000 after buying an additional 30,473 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.76.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock traded up $2.42 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $160.56. The company had a trading volume of 8,925,924 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,958,951. The company’s 50-day moving average is $159.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.02. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $141.45 and a twelve month high of $163.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $377.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.37 EPS. Analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.51%. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total transaction of $3,549,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 36,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,943,835.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total transaction of $3,549,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 36,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,943,835.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,097,637.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.