Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Sells 552 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,511 shares of the company’s stock after selling 552 shares during the quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,295,000. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $762,000. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $581,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC now owns 126,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,565,000 after purchasing an additional 2,968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centric Wealth Management increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 8,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.4 %

PG traded down $0.71 on Wednesday, hitting $165.05. The company had a trading volume of 4,579,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,870,830. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $141.45 and a 52-week high of $166.37. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $160.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.49. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $389.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 65.69%.

Insider Activity

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 21,388 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.98, for a total value of $3,528,592.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,080,172.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 21,388 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.98, for a total value of $3,528,592.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,080,172.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,858,265.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 140,112 shares of company stock worth $22,841,321. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.76.

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.