Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 206,165 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,209,425 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 206,165 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.69% of Procter & Gamble worth $2,336,552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arlington Partners LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 160.2% in the third quarter. Arlington Partners LLC now owns 21,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,156,000 after acquiring an additional 13,319 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the third quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Channel Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 13.3% in the third quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 13,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,026,000 after purchasing an additional 1,631 shares during the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 21.8% in the third quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 21,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 3,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compton Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 5.6% in the third quarter. Compton Financial Group LLC now owns 1,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,859 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total transaction of $5,253,549.10. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 9,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,605,961.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Procter & Gamble news, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,859 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total transaction of $5,253,549.10. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,739 shares in the company, valued at $1,605,961.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total value of $3,549,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,943,835.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 118,724 shares of company stock valued at $19,312,729. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on PG. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group increased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price 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 downgraded Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of PG traded down $0.35 on Wednesday, hitting $165.41. 1,864,458 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,838,972. 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 Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $141.45 and a one year high of $166.37. The company has a market capitalization of $390.39 billion, a PE ratio of 27.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $154.49.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 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 business had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.69%.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.