Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Sells 2,070 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC trimmed its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG - Free Report) by 54.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,704 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,070 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $286,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 19,030.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,693,593 shares of the company's stock valued at $639,730,000 after acquiring an additional 3,674,286 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,538,327,000 after acquiring an additional 3,619,466 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,988,721 shares of the company's stock worth $3,290,573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760,214 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter worth about $301,950,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 416.1% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,818,490 shares of the company's stock worth $315,016,000 after purchasing an additional 1,466,115 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company's stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of PG traded up $1.20 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $167.43. The stock had a trading volume of 4,132,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,479,979. The company has a market cap of $394.31 billion, a PE ratio of 26.66, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.45. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $168.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $153.52 and a fifty-two week high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 32.88% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. Procter & Gamble's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total transaction of $8,604,804.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,977 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,189,463.68. The trade was a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 151,097 shares of company stock valued at $25,635,076 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Hsbc Global Res raised Procter & Gamble to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $180.53.

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.