The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Sold by Carret Asset Management LLC

Carret Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 49,074 shares of the company’s stock after selling 109 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble accounts for about 0.9% of Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $7,191,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 9.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,193,916,000 after buying an additional 3,047,557 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,313,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,275,616,000 after buying an additional 670,862 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,003,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,298,184,000 after buying an additional 131,339 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 3.2% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,170,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,629,299,000 after buying an additional 346,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,492,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,390,963,000 after buying an additional 1,387,539 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,275 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.90, for a total transaction of $4,844,497.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,490,602.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,275 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.90, for a total transaction of $4,844,497.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,490,602.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total transaction of $122,693.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at $768,256.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 103,771 shares of company stock worth $16,292,467. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.88.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

NYSE PG traded up $1.08 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $162.58. The company had a trading volume of 7,216,558 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,971,658. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $383.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.26. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $141.45 and a fifty-two week high of $163.14.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.37 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.85%.

About Procter & Gamble

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.