The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Sold by Epoch Investment Partners Inc.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lowered its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 41.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 148,035 shares of the company’s stock after selling 106,443 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $24,818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 229,794,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,524,976,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,061 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 56,472,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,457,000,000 after buying an additional 1,267,419 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,244,463,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,197,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,386,194,000 after acquiring an additional 1,209,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,692,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,133,850,000 after acquiring an additional 312,203 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on PG shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.68, for a total transaction of $6,078,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,829,817.68. This represents a 61.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. This trade represents a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 143,450 shares of company stock worth $23,988,008 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE PG opened at $170.59 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $168.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $168.48. The company has a market capitalization of $400.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.43. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $156.69 and a 12 month high of $180.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

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

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.0568 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.20%.

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.