Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Cuts Stock Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,320 shares of the company’s stock after selling 272 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $3,346,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $244,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 6.0% in the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 64,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,146,000 after buying an additional 3,618 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 2.7% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 285,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,528,000 after acquiring an additional 7,425 shares during the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 7.3% during the third quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 4,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $718,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hamlin Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.3% in the third quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 983,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,355,000 after acquiring an additional 83,988 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays lowered 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. Evercore ISI upped 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $182.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Nine equities 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 MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value of $1,458,045.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,451.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total transaction of $1,458,045.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,451.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 72,174 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.01, for a total transaction of $12,342,475.74. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 263,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,002,649.58. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 397,986 shares of company stock worth $67,642,430 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE PG traded down $1.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $168.22. 4,877,911 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,669,386. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $171.93 and a 200 day moving average of $167.62. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $142.50 and a 1 year high of $177.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $396.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The firm had revenue of $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

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 given a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 69.48%.

About Procter & Gamble

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.