Sandhill Capital Partners LLC Trims Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Sandhill Capital Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,084 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,909 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble makes up about 0.5% of Sandhill Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Sandhill Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $5,581,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in PG. Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth $2,423,000. Abbrea Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC now owns 55,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,146,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 66.3% in the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 26,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,836,000 after buying an additional 10,432 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 703.9% in the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 52,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,682,000 after buying an additional 45,902 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New Hampshire increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 22,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,265,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PG. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Argus raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Procter & Gamble stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $162.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,093,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,973,202. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $383.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.44. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $141.45 and a twelve month high of $164.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $159.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.32.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The firm had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total value of $7,020,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 973 shares in the company, valued at $151,788. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total value of $7,020,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 973 shares in the company, valued at $151,788. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total transaction of $620,719.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,908,891.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 100,865 shares of company stock valued at $16,029,280 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

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.