Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Sells 3,687 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 32,793 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,687 shares during the quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $4,805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Wyrmwood Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Mendota Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 636.6% during the 4th quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 302 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 206.6% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 417 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 0.8 %

PG traded down $1.26 during trading on Friday, reaching $161.29. 5,659,784 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,820,118. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $141.45 and a one year high of $164.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $380.67 billion, a PE ratio of 26.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $159.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.51.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $1.0065 dividend. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on PG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price objective for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble 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.