The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Sold by Norden Group LLC

Norden Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 14.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,435 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,601 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 76,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,276,000 after purchasing an additional 2,845 shares in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 26,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,863,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 141,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,725,000 after purchasing an additional 1,147 shares in the last quarter. Ledyard National Bank increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 85,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,469,000 after purchasing an additional 2,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1,721.8% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 337,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,422,000 after purchasing an additional 318,748 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on PG shares. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 target price for the company. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PG traded up $0.96 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $162.62. The stock had a trading volume of 3,438,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,884,708. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.78. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $141.45 and a 1-year high of $164.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $383.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.52, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The business had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at $1,908,891.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,858,265.43. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,908,891.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 55,865 shares of company stock worth $9,009,280. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.