Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 38,425 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC decreased its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,708,929 shares of the company’s stock after selling 38,425 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $295,987,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 16,292.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 3,675,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $606,230,000 after purchasing an additional 3,653,477 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 114.9% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,568,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $579,017,000 after acquiring an additional 1,907,716 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 416.1% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,818,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,016,000 after acquiring an additional 1,466,115 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 1st quarter valued at $233,788,000. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP bought a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 1st quarter worth about $228,212,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on PG shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $159.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.21.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Procter & Gamble stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $171.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,372,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,692,838. The stock has a market cap of $404.24 billion, a PE ratio of 28.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $142.50 and a 52 week high of $177.94. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $171.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $167.11.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.71% and a return on equity of 33.46%. The firm’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.94%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 3,373 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $573,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 21,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,657,210. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total transaction of $108,826.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,319,882.65. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 3,373 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $573,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 21,513 shares in the company, valued at $3,657,210. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 383,194 shares of company stock worth $65,140,718 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Procter & Gamble Profile

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.