Capital Wealth Planning LLC Sells 444,472 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Capital Wealth Planning LLC cut its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 14.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,588,688 shares of the company’s stock after selling 444,472 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble accounts for 4.0% of Capital Wealth Planning LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Capital Wealth Planning LLC owned 0.11% of Procter & Gamble worth $433,994,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PG. Sherman Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $424,000. Onefund LLC grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Onefund LLC now owns 6,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,066,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 100,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,907,000 after purchasing an additional 853 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 115,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,382,000 after purchasing an additional 2,082 shares during the period. Finally, West Michigan Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC now owns 10,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,764,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.11.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total transaction of $3,089,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,274.66. This trade represents a 44.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total value of $14,819,328.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at $28,313,845.76. The trade was a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 1.1 %

PG opened at $173.84 on Friday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $153.52 and a 1-year high of $180.43. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $166.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $407.63 billion, a PE ratio of 27.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.45.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $21.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.01%.

About Procter & Gamble

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.