Verity & Verity LLC Sells 15,466 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Verity & Verity LLC reduced its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG - Free Report) by 17.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,763 shares of the company's stock after selling 15,466 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC's holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $12,256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PG. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 32,001 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,192,000 after buying an additional 1,657 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.0% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,684 shares of the company's stock worth $1,733,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.3% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 784,525 shares of the company's stock worth $127,289,000 after purchasing an additional 2,655 shares in the last quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,134,000 after buying an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 1st quarter worth $1,552,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company's stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE PG traded up $0.02 on Tuesday, hitting $170.77. 5,682,402 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,672,438. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $142.50 and a 52-week high of $177.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $402.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $170.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $168.49.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The firm's revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total value of $2,163,072.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,954,538.34. The trade was a 52.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total value of $108,826.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,341 shares in the company, valued at $3,319,882.65. The trade was a 3.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 270,727 shares of company stock worth $46,014,037 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on PG shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays downgraded Procter & Gamble from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $163.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Wolfe Research raised shares of Procter & Gamble to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Dbs Bank cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $177.00.

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.