Ninety One UK Ltd Lowers Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Ninety One UK Ltd cut its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 298,685 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,583 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $50,075,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 972.0% in the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 268 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Costello Asset Management INC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2,142.9% during the third quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on PG. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.53.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of PG stock opened at $168.16 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $394.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.78, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s fifty day moving average is $168.17 and its 200 day moving average is $169.41. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $153.52 and a twelve month high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.66 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 64.17%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 172,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,313,845.76. This trade represents a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $2,210,944.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,595 shares in the company, valued at $2,002,804.35. This trade represents a 52.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 151,097 shares of company stock valued at $25,635,076 in the last 90 days. Corporate 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.