The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Sold by Bridgewater Associates LP

Bridgewater Associates LP cut its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 55.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,601,368 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,993,699 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble accounts for approximately 1.6% of Bridgewater Associates LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $277,357,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cynosure Group LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the third quarter valued at about $328,000. RS Crum Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. RS Crum Inc. now owns 2,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. RBO & Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. RBO & Co. LLC now owns 1,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Carlson Capital Management purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the third quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Finally, Shum Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,227,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $179.31 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $170.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $168.83. The company has a market cap of $422.28 billion, a PE ratio of 30.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.42. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $142.50 and a fifty-two week high of $179.46.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The company had revenue of $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were given 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 2.25%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total transaction of $108,826.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,319,882.65. This trade represents a 3.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,002,804.35. This represents a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 35,233 shares of company stock worth $6,024,234. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PG shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Piper Sandler started coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.45.

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.