Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Cuts Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 19,975 shares of the company’s stock after selling 299 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $3,460,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 19,030.8% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,693,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $639,730,000 after acquiring an additional 3,674,286 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 16,292.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 3,675,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $606,230,000 after acquiring an additional 3,653,477 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 114.9% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,568,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $579,017,000 after acquiring an additional 1,907,716 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 416.1% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,818,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,016,000 after buying an additional 1,466,115 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 1st quarter worth approximately $233,788,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PG shares. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. TD Cowen started coverage on Procter & Gamble in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $189.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 450 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.22, for a total value of $76,149.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,212,043.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.22, for a total value of $76,149.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,072 shares in the company, valued at $2,212,043.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 10,623 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.22, for a total transaction of $1,797,624.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 23,890 shares in the company, valued at $4,042,665.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 313,597 shares of company stock worth $53,268,499 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of PG stock opened at $167.73 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $171.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $168.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $395.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.42. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $142.50 and a 12 month high of $177.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 69.31%.

Procter & Gamble Profile

The Procter & Gamble Company engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. The company 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, SK-II, and Native brands.