Essex LLC Trims Stock Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Essex LLC lessened its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,659 shares of the company’s stock after selling 532 shares during the quarter. Essex LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $3,676,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,956,117,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,209,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,336,552,000 after acquiring an additional 206,165 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,556,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,547,021,000 after acquiring an additional 559,358 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,571,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,402,636,000 after acquiring an additional 246,323 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,492,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,390,963,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387,539 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

NYSE:PG traded down $1.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $165.54. The stock had a trading volume of 5,735,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,522,096. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $159.90. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $141.45 and a twelve month high of $169.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $390.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.06, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 19th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com raised Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Citigroup increased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.74.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total value of $135,517.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $634,634. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total value of $135,517.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $634,634. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar G. Raman sold 31,924 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.95, for a total transaction of $5,329,711.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 19,042 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,179,061.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 154,544 shares of company stock valued at $25,413,051 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It 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, and SK-II brands.