Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Has $37.60 Million Stock Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lowered its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 256,555 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,429 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $37,596,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dfpg Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 24,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,680,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the period. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 94,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,772,000 after buying an additional 12,016 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings 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. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 105.5% during the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 59,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,699,000 after buying an additional 30,473 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total transaction of $7,020,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $151,788. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total value of $4,581,309.81. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,858,265.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total value of $7,020,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 973 shares in the company, valued at $151,788. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 100,865 shares of company stock valued at $16,029,280 over the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Argus raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 0.8 %

PG stock traded down $1.31 during trading on Friday, hitting $161.24. The company had a trading volume of 5,659,643 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,957,020. The business has a 50-day moving average of $159.57 and a 200-day moving average of $153.39. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $141.45 and a one year high of $164.32. The stock has a market cap of $380.55 billion, a PE ratio of 26.35, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. Research analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio 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.