Bailard Inc. Sells 665 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Bailard Inc. trimmed its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 161,422 shares of the company’s stock after selling 665 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $23,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,193,916,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047,557 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,313,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,275,616,000 after buying an additional 670,862 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,003,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,298,184,000 after buying an additional 131,339 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,170,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,629,299,000 after buying an additional 346,925 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,492,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,390,963,000 after buying an additional 1,387,539 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at $1,858,265.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at $1,858,265.43. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, 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 90 days, insiders sold 132,140 shares of company stock worth $20,873,777. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.88.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:PG traded up $1.08 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $162.58. The company had a trading volume of 7,216,558 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,971,658. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $159.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.32. The stock has a market cap of $383.71 billion, a PE ratio of 26.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.44. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $141.45 and a 1-year high of $163.14.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its 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 return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The business had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.85%.

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.