Ruggaard & Associates LLC Trims Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Ruggaard & Associates LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,741 shares of the company’s stock after selling 215 shares during the period. Ruggaard & Associates LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $627,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 933.3% during 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 last quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 321.7% during the 4th 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 period. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 95.3% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Erste Group Bank upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.00.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 5.0 %

Shares of NYSE PG opened at $163.73 on Friday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12-month low of $153.52 and a 12-month high of $180.43. The company has a market cap of $383.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $169.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.15.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.66 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,313,845.76. The trade was a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $3,829,817.68. The trade was a 61.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 143,450 shares of company stock valued at $23,988,008. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Procter & Gamble 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.