Calamos Advisors LLC Sells 3,658 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Calamos Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 583,495 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,658 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $85,505,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PG. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 96,526.4% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,535,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,840,449,000 after acquiring an additional 38,495,676 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at $3,752,321,000. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,320,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,717,246,000 after acquiring an additional 4,959,527 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 118.1% during the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,334,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $961,170,000 after acquiring an additional 3,429,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 106.2% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,134,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $898,943,000 after acquiring an additional 3,159,796 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total transaction of $15,618,683.28. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at $25,097,637.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total transaction of $15,618,683.28. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at $25,097,637.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total transaction of $3,549,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,943,835.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745 over the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of PG stock traded up $1.34 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $157.29. 7,285,973 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,857,816. The stock has a market cap of $370.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $159.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $152.80. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $141.45 and a 52-week high of $163.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $21.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.48 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 34.04%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.59 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 62.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.53.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.