The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Acquired by Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. increased its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 13.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 300,209 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 34,645 shares during the quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $50,330,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 67,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,395,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 540,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,382,000 after purchasing an additional 12,416 shares during the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 272,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,759,000 after purchasing an additional 5,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tredje AP fonden boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 713,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,535,000 after purchasing an additional 45,931 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. This trade represents a 34.36 % 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, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.68, for a total value of $6,078,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,829,817.68. This trade represents a 61.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 143,450 shares of company stock worth $23,988,008 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on PG shares. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.47.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE PG opened at $168.35 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $394.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12-month low of $153.52 and a 12-month high of $180.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $167.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.83.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.66 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were given a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.01%.

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.