The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Sold by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG - Free Report) by 13.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,014,362 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,014,470 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.81% of Procter & Gamble worth $3,187,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 valued at $38,524,976,000 after buying an additional 1,592,061 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,267,419 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,244,463,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,197,996 shares of the company's stock worth $3,386,194,000 after purchasing an additional 1,209,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 312,203 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PG. Bank of America dropped their price target on Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $209.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 target price on Procter & Gamble and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $181.00.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE PG traded up $1.51 on Friday, reaching $161.04. The company had a trading volume of 12,892,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,118,291. The firm has a market capitalization of $377.61 billion, a PE ratio of 25.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $168.24 and a 200-day moving average of $168.38. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $156.58 and a 1 year high of $180.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.57 by ($0.03). Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm had revenue of $19.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a $1.0568 dividend. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Procter & Gamble's dividend payout ratio is presently 67.20%.

Insider Activity

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.68, for a total transaction of $6,078,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at $3,829,817.68. This represents a 61.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.