Advisors Asset Management Inc. Lowers Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 110,519 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,272 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $18,529,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Carlson Capital Management lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Carlson Capital Management now owns 1,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 27.8% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 402,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,437,000 after purchasing an additional 87,671 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 35,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,976,000 after purchasing an additional 2,987 shares in the last quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 13,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,328,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 6,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,024,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock opened at $169.70 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $167.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.81. The company has a market cap of $397.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. 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 Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $153.52 and a 1 year high of $180.43.

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

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 64.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 172,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,829,817.68. This represents a 61.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 143,450 shares of company stock valued at $23,988,008 in the last three months. 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.