Counterweight Ventures LLC Lowers Stock Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Counterweight Ventures LLC cut its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,385 shares of the company’s stock after selling 65 shares during the period. Counterweight Ventures LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $232,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 19,030.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,693,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $639,730,000 after purchasing an additional 3,674,286 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,538,327,000 after buying an additional 3,619,466 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position 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. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter valued at about $301,950,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 416.1% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,818,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,016,000 after buying an additional 1,466,115 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on PG. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.53.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total transaction of $8,604,804.48. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 151,097 shares of company stock worth $25,635,076 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $167.99 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $167.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.40. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $153.52 and a 52 week high of $180.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $393.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.75, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

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

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.17%.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.