State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Sells 59,379 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lowered its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 839,355 shares of the company’s stock after selling 59,379 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $140,718,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,442,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 14.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,734,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $820,031,000 after purchasing an additional 608,168 shares in the last quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the third quarter valued at about $201,000. Invst LLC lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 15,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,752,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the third quarter valued at about $1,632,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.50.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 2.5 %

PG opened at $170.59 on Monday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $156.69 and a one year high of $180.43. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $168.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $168.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $400.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.0568 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.20%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.68, for a total value of $6,078,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 22,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,829,817.68. This trade represents a 61.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 quarter, insiders sold 143,450 shares of company stock valued at $23,988,008. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.