WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Procter & Gamble Company (The) $PG

WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 42,331 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,555 shares during the quarter. WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $6,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PG. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 234,630,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,050,992,000 after acquiring an additional 1,419,322 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 100,634,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,462,541,000 after buying an additional 370,872 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at about $5,099,644,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 8.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 22,850,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,510,955,000 after buying an additional 1,752,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.7% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,385,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,770,035,000 after acquiring an additional 294,673 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Dbs Bank raised Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $156.00 to $179.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Barclays set a $155.00 price target on Procter & Gamble in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, December 29th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.33.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $144.41 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $335.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 0.37. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $154.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $150.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Procter & Gamble Company has a 12-month low of $137.62 and a 12-month high of $174.80.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.36 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 32.21% and a net margin of 19.30%.Procter & Gamble’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.88 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $1.0568 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 23rd. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 5,549 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.29, for a total value of $917,194.21. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $170,083.41. The trade was a 84.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 1,809 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total value of $288,463.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,215 shares in the company, valued at $4,818,083.90. The trade was a 5.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 348,618 shares of company stock worth $55,462,643. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) is a multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble, P&G has grown into one of the world’s largest producers of branded consumer packaged goods. The company focuses on developing, manufacturing and marketing a broad portfolio of household and personal care products sold to consumers and retailers worldwide.

P&G’s product offering spans several core business categories, including Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric & Home Care, and Baby, Feminine & Family Care.