Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Reduces Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,098 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,352 shares during the quarter. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $5,953,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 17,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237 shares in the last quarter. HFR Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. HFR Wealth Management LLC now owns 68,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,080,000 after buying an additional 944 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 109,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,975,000 after buying an additional 5,287 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 31,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,566,000 after acquiring an additional 3,191 shares during the period. Finally, Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.89, for a total value of $6,289,463.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 263,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,508,763.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.89, for a total value of $6,289,463.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 263,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,508,763.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value of $1,458,045.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,902,451.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 375,553 shares of company stock valued at $63,829,141 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Procter & Gamble stock opened at $173.55 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $409.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $141.45 and a 1-year high of $177.94. The company’s 50-day moving average is $170.79 and its 200 day moving average is $166.20.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 17.71%. The firm had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 19th were issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 65.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $189.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $182.00 to $175.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.89.

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.