Trust Co. of Vermont Reduces Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Trust Co. of Vermont trimmed its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 130,675 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,736 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble accounts for about 1.3% of Trust Co. of Vermont’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $19,149,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 35.3% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,044,291 shares of the company’s stock worth $444,040,000 after acquiring an additional 793,500 shares in the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 80.7% in the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 41,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,095,000 after acquiring an additional 18,656 shares in the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 42.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 17,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,595,000 after purchasing an additional 5,286 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 91,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,317,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Claret Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp now owns 1,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

PG opened at $167.50 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $163.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $157.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $395.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.37, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.42. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $141.45 and a 1-year high of $168.97.

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

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th were issued a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 18th. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on PG. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price objective for the company. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.76.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Sundar G. Raman sold 31,924 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.95, for a total value of $5,329,711.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,042 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,179,061.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total value of $135,517.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $634,634. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar G. Raman sold 31,924 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.95, for a total value of $5,329,711.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 19,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,179,061.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 154,544 shares of company stock worth $25,413,051 in the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Procter & Gamble Company 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.