Grant GrossMendelsohn LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Grant GrossMendelsohn LLC reduced its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,570 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,455 shares during the period. Grant GrossMendelsohn LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,538,327,000 after purchasing an additional 3,619,466 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 2.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,556,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,599,554,000 after buying an additional 689,282 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,632,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,567,556,000 after buying an additional 122,190 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 10.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,290,573,000 after acquiring an additional 1,760,214 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 4.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,380,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,183,522,000 after acquiring an additional 830,476 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on PG. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $167.00 to $161.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Barclays lowered their target price on Procter & Gamble from $163.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $176.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 1,992 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $338,640.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,110. The trade was a 12.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total value of $8,604,804.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,189,463.68. This represents a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 75,439 shares of company stock valued at $13,317,460. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Procter & Gamble stock opened at $161.35 on Friday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $146.28 and a fifty-two week high of $180.43. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $169.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.38. The stock has a market cap of $379.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The company’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.48%.

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.