The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Position Reduced by Vista Investment Partners LLC

Vista Investment Partners LLC trimmed its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 28.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 10,315 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,185 shares during the quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Costello Asset Management INC lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2,142.9% in the 3rd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth about $58,000. Mendota Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 58.0% in the 4th quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 138.7% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 3.3 %

NYSE PG opened at $169.57 on Tuesday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $153.52 and a 12 month high of $180.43. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $168.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $399.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.00, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.45.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 32.88%. The business had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21,657,595.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. 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 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.53.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total transaction of $8,604,804.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,189,463.68. The trade was a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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. Insiders have sold 151,097 shares of company stock worth $25,635,076 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.