First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Cuts Stock Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. decreased its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 134,488 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,520 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble makes up approximately 0.3% of First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $22,547,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Costello Asset Management INC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2,142.9% in the 3rd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at about $58,000. 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 valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 138.7% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.53.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of PG stock opened at $169.57 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $399.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.00, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50 day moving average is $168.85 and its 200 day moving average is $169.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $153.52 and a 52-week high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21,657,595.49 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 32.88%. Procter & Gamble’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $14,819,328.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. The trade was a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction 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 represents a 52.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 151,097 shares of company stock valued at $25,635,076. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.