The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Sold by WASHINGTON TRUST Co

WASHINGTON TRUST Co trimmed its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 83,168 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,980 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $13,943,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 416.1% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,818,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,016,000 after acquiring an additional 1,466,115 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,393,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,344,000 after purchasing an additional 47,551 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,503,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,432,000 after purchasing an additional 56,583 shares during the period. Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 5.4% in the third quarter. Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.5% in the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 83,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,517,000 after buying an additional 1,218 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total value of $14,819,328.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $2,210,944.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,595 shares in the company, valued at $2,002,804.35. This represents a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 151,097 shares of company stock valued at $25,635,076 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 4.8 %

NYSE:PG opened at $162.84 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $166.73 and its 200-day moving average is $169.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $153.52 and a 12 month high of $180.43. The firm has a market cap of $381.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.17%.

About Procter & Gamble

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.