Investors Research Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Investors Research Corp decreased its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 81.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 317 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,406 shares during the period. Investors Research Corp’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $55,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the second quarter valued at $44,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock opened at $172.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.75. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $142.50 and a fifty-two week high of $177.94. The company has a fifty day moving average of $170.00 and a 200 day moving average of $168.54. The company has a market capitalization of $406.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.42.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The firm had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 69.48%.

Insider Activity

In other Procter & Gamble news, CFO Andre Schulten sold 13,041 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $2,216,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 37,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,325,360. This trade represents a 25.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 87,979 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.40, for a total transaction of $14,991,621.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 300,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,252,400.80. This represents a 22.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 160,693 shares of company stock worth $27,311,345. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on PG. Barclays downgraded Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Dbs Bank cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.00.

About Procter & Gamble

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.