The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Position Reduced by Marotta Asset Management

Marotta Asset Management decreased its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,486 shares of the company’s stock after selling 194 shares during the period. Marotta Asset Management’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $247,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PG. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,538,327,000 after purchasing an additional 3,619,466 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,556,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,599,554,000 after acquiring an additional 689,282 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,632,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,567,556,000 after purchasing an additional 122,190 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,290,573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 4.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,380,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,183,522,000 after purchasing an additional 830,476 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of PG traded down $2.39 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $159.71. The stock had a trading volume of 1,780,319 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,707,951. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $376.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.64. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $146.28 and a twelve month high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 1,992 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $338,640.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,783 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,110. The trade was a 12.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total value of $8,604,804.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,189,463.68. This represents a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 75,439 shares of company stock worth $13,317,460. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays downgraded Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 30th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Friday, December 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $176.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.75.

About Procter & Gamble

The Procter & Gamble Company engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. The company 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, SK-II, and Native brands.