Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Sells 6,427 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lowered its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 69,697 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,427 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble accounts for 0.8% of Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $12,072,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PG. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the second quarter worth about $29,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Dbs Bank lowered Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.00.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $169.57 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market capitalization of $399.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $170.32 and a 200 day moving average of $168.33. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $142.50 and a 52 week high of $177.94.

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

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.48%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total transaction of $108,826.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,341 shares in the company, valued at $3,319,882.65. This represents a 3.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total transaction of $2,163,072.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,954,538.34. This trade represents a 52.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 313,597 shares of company stock valued at $53,268,499 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.