Whittier Trust Co. Buys 21,473 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Whittier Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 309,645 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,473 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $51,911,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,538,327,000 after purchasing an additional 3,619,466 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,556,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,599,554,000 after buying an additional 689,282 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,290,573,000 after buying an additional 1,760,214 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,692,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,133,850,000 after buying an additional 312,203 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,881,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,830,252,000 after acquiring an additional 459,437 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of Procter & Gamble 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $28,313,845.76. The trade was a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.68, for a total transaction 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 approximately $3,829,817.68. The trade was a 61.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 143,450 shares of company stock valued at $23,988,008 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock opened at $168.66 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $167.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $169.77. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $153.52 and a one year high of $180.43. 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 $395.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.86, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41.

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

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.47.

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.