Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Sells 711 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,888 shares of the company’s stock after selling 711 shares during the period. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,322,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 4.5% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 94,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,300,000 after acquiring an additional 4,035 shares during the period. Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the third quarter valued at approximately $668,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $569,000. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. now owns 123,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,764,000 after acquiring an additional 2,568 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,898,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $484,583,000 after acquiring an additional 201,695 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.53.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.1 %

PG opened at $169.58 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $397.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.00, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $153.52 and a one year high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The company had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 64.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $2,210,944.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,595 shares in the company, valued at $2,002,804.35. This trade represents a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total value of $14,819,328.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. This trade represents a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 151,097 shares of company stock worth $25,635,076. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.