Curbstone Financial Management Corp Boosts Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Curbstone Financial Management Corp raised its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 5.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,038 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,250 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble makes up about 0.8% of Curbstone Financial Management Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Curbstone Financial Management Corp’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $3,926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth about $5,244,463,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 20,758.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,951,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,355,087,000 after acquiring an additional 7,913,335 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,010,685,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1,195.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 3,222,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $580,596,000 after purchasing an additional 2,973,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,398,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,240,294,000 after purchasing an additional 2,846,560 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised Procter & Gamble from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $164.00 to $177.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James dropped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $200.00 to $181.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Erste Group Bank cut Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.86.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

NYSE:PG opened at $162.68 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $163.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.08. The company has a market cap of $381.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.43. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $156.58 and a 52-week high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.01. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The business had revenue of $19.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st were issued a dividend of $1.0568 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 21st. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.38, for a total value of $161,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,386,111.70. The trade was a 1.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 10,520 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $1,669,208.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 25,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,995,627.94. This trade represents a 29.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.