Choate Investment Advisors Has $39.99 Million Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Choate Investment Advisors cut its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 238,568 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,081 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble makes up approximately 1.0% of Choate Investment Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $39,994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Diversified Enterprises LLC grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Enterprises LLC now owns 8,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,435,000 after buying an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,517,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,458,000 after acquiring an additional 121,065 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Group Corp bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth $388,000. Harbour Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investment Management LLC now owns 17,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,995,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harrington Investments INC boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Harrington Investments INC now owns 9,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,612,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total transaction of $3,089,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,274.66. This trade represents a 44.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction 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 represents a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 143,450 shares of company stock valued at $23,988,008. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.47.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE PG opened at $168.20 on Friday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $153.52 and a 1 year high of $180.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $394.39 billion, a PE ratio of 26.78, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $167.27 and its 200 day moving average is $169.80.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.66 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 64.01%.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.