Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Sells 2,070 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC reduced its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 54.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,704 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,070 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Costello Asset Management INC raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2,142.9% during the third quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Mendota Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 58.0% during the fourth quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 138.7% during the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Finally, Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the third quarter valued at about $70,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PG shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $2,210,944.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,002,804.35. The trade was a 52.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total value of $14,819,328.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 172,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,313,845.76. The trade was a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 151,097 shares of company stock worth $25,635,076 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $166.34 on Thursday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $153.52 and a 1 year high of $180.43. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $391.74 billion, a PE ratio of 26.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 32.88% and a net margin of 18.35%. The business had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.17%.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.