Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Has $7.42 Million Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC decreased its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,535 shares of the company’s stock after selling 562 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $7,419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 933.3% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Hoey Investments Inc. boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 321.7% during the fourth quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Procter & Gamble from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $164.00 to $177.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 price objective on Procter & Gamble and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.86.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of PG stock opened at $166.03 on Thursday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12-month low of $156.58 and a 12-month high of $180.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $164.30 and a 200-day moving average of $167.37. The firm has a market cap of $389.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.44, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.01. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The business had revenue of $19.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st were paid a dividend of $1.0568 per share. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 21st. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.38, for a total transaction of $161,380.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 51,965 shares in the company, valued at $8,386,111.70. This trade represents a 1.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 10,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $1,669,208.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 25,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,995,627.94. The trade was a 29.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.