Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG) Shares Bought by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG) by 3.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 75,908 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,268 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $12,936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 40,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,717,000 after purchasing an additional 13,617 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth about $50,049,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 493.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 341,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,294,000 after buying an additional 284,174 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 242.1% in the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 52,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,776,000 after buying an additional 37,045 shares during the period. Finally, Private Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 31,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,312,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.38, for a total transaction of $161,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,386,111.70. This trade represents a 1.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 10,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $1,669,208.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 25,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,995,627.94. This trade represents a 29.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of PG stock opened at $157.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $163.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $370.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.06, a P/E/G ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 0.43. Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $156.58 and a 12 month high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.01. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 32.67% and a net margin of 18.46%. The business had revenue of $19.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st were given a dividend of $1.0568 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 21st. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on PG. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Redburn Partners set a $161.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Erste Group Bank lowered Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 price objective on Procter & Gamble and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.86.

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.