Hemenway Trust Co LLC Lowers Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Hemenway Trust Co LLC decreased its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 209,955 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,766 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble comprises about 2.9% of Hemenway Trust Co LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Hemenway Trust Co LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $35,199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 229,794,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,524,976,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,061 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 56,472,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,457,000,000 after buying an additional 1,267,419 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth about $5,244,463,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,197,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,386,194,000 after acquiring an additional 1,209,275 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,692,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,133,850,000 after acquiring an additional 312,203 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Erste Group Bank raised Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.00.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PG opened at $163.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $383.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $153.52 and a 52-week high of $180.43. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $169.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.20.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.01%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.68, for a total value of $6,078,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,829,817.68. This trade represents a 61.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. This trade represents a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 143,450 shares of company stock valued at $23,988,008. 0.18% of the stock is 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.