S.A. Mason LLC Sells 137 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

S.A. Mason LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,024 shares of the company’s stock after selling 137 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble accounts for 1.4% of S.A. Mason LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. S.A. Mason LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $2,055,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PG. Wyrmwood Management LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $50,000. CGC Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at $55,000. VitalStone Financial LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble in the second quarter worth $60,000. Finally, RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the third quarter valued at $77,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $162.61 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $158.17 and a 200 day moving average of $152.09. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $141.45 and a 52-week high of $162.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $382.62 billion, a PE ratio of 27.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $21.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.48 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 34.04% and a net margin of 17.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.59 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 19th were paid a $0.9407 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 18th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.98%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total transaction of $3,549,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,943,835.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total transaction of $15,618,683.28. Following the sale, the insider now owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,097,637.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total transaction of $3,549,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,943,835.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 279,063 shares of company stock valued at $43,187,745. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.41.

Procter & Gamble Profile

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It 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, and SK-II brands.