Flputnam Investment Management Co. Lowers Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. reduced its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 92,521 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,665 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $13,558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Analysts LLC lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 78,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,497,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the period. Sippican Capital Advisors lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 61.1% during the 4th quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 2,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,551,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,361,000 after acquiring an additional 125,668 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 17,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,535,000 after acquiring an additional 848 shares during the period. Finally, Warner Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Warner Financial Inc. now owns 2,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on PG. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.53.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

NYSE PG traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $155.45. 5,597,685 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,863,596. The firm has a market capitalization of $365.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.44. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $141.45 and a 52 week high of $163.14. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $159.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $21.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.48 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 34.04%. The company’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.59 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $1.0065 dividend. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total value of $122,693.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $768,256.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total value of $122,693.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $768,256.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total transaction of $15,618,683.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,097,637.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745 over the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.