Signaturefd LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Procter & Gamble Company (The) $PG

Signaturefd LLC lowered its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 55,950 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,702 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $8,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PG. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 100.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,460,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $782,607,000 after buying an additional 2,741,924 shares during the period. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 26.3% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 10,682,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,606,748,000 after acquiring an additional 2,222,560 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 66.3% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,504,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $877,014,000 after acquiring an additional 2,195,560 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 22,850,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,510,955,000 after purchasing an additional 1,752,481 shares during the period. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter worth about $252,853,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of PG opened at $143.06 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $332.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a PEG ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.51. Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $137.62 and a 1-year high of $174.80. The company has a 50-day moving average of $153.57 and a 200 day moving average of $149.64.

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

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 23rd were paid a $1.0568 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 23rd. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 62.67%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 15,169 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.28, for a total transaction of $2,461,625.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 44,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,259,595.80. The trade was a 25.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 36,093 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.33, for a total value of $5,858,976.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 34,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,680,576.02. This represents a 50.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 348,618 shares of company stock worth $55,462,643 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $164.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 16th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $142.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $156.00 to $179.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Barclays set a $155.00 price target on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $167.06.

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.