The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Sold by Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC

Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC decreased its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 15.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,075 shares of the company’s stock after selling 372 shares during the quarter. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 9.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,193,916,000 after acquiring an additional 3,047,557 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,313,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,275,616,000 after buying an additional 670,862 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,003,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,298,184,000 after buying an additional 131,339 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.2% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,170,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,629,299,000 after buying an additional 346,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,492,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,390,963,000 after buying an additional 1,387,539 shares in 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 Procter & Gamble news, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,275 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.90, for a total value of $4,844,497.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,490,602.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,275 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.90, for a total value of $4,844,497.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,623 shares in the company, valued at $1,490,602.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total value of $122,693.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at $768,256.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 132,140 shares of company stock worth $20,873,777. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PG has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Barclays boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.88.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of PG traded up $1.08 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $162.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,216,558 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,971,658. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12-month low of $141.45 and a 12-month high of $163.14. The stock has a market cap of $383.71 billion, a PE ratio of 26.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company’s 50 day moving average is $159.46 and its 200 day moving average is $153.32.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

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

Procter & Gamble 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.