The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Sold by Lord Abbett & CO. LLC

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC reduced its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 42.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 211,406 shares of the company’s stock after selling 158,415 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $36,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.5% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 94,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,300,000 after buying an additional 4,035 shares during the period. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter valued at about $668,000. Radnor Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,705,000. Welch Group LLC increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.9% during the third quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 323,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,094,000 after purchasing an additional 2,990 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 7,005,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,213,403,000 after purchasing an additional 39,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.1 %

PG opened at $171.06 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $402.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.75. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $142.50 and a one year high of $180.43. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $170.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.59.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The company’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Barclays cut Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.45.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total value of $108,826.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,341 shares in the company, valued at $3,319,882.65. This trade represents a 3.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total transaction of $8,604,804.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,189,463.68. This trade represents a 54.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 83,080 shares of company stock valued at $14,629,038. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

The Procter & Gamble Company engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. The company 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, SK-II, and Native brands.