The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Stock Position Cut by Connors Investor Services Inc.

Connors Investor Services Inc. trimmed its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 74.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,451 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,221 shares during the quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 64.7% during the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on PG shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 price objective for the company. Argus increased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total value of $135,517.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $634,634. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total value of $135,517.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $634,634. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total value of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,858,265.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 154,544 shares of company stock worth $25,413,051 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

PG stock traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $167.96. 6,597,090 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,185,252. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $141.45 and a twelve month high of $170.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $161.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $396.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 19th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.85%.

Procter & Gamble Profile

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It operates through five segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment offers conditioners, shampoos, styling aids, and treatments under the Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, and Rejoice brands; and antiperspirants and deodorants, personal cleansing, and skin care products under the Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Secret, and SK-II brands.