Beacon Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Beacon Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,482 shares of the company’s stock after selling 78 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble accounts for approximately 0.3% of Beacon Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Beacon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,925,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PG. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 19,030.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,693,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,730,000 after acquiring an additional 3,674,286 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 7.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,619,466 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,290,573,000 after acquiring an additional 1,760,214 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter valued at about $301,950,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 416.1% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,818,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,016,000 after acquiring an additional 1,466,115 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $2,210,944.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,002,804.35. This trade represents a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at $28,313,845.76. The trade was a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 151,097 shares of company stock worth $25,635,076. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Procter & Gamble stock opened at $162.84 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $381.84 billion, a PE ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $153.52 and a 52-week high of $180.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company’s 50 day moving average is $166.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.40.

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

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 64.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on PG shares. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.53.

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.