Northwest Bancshares Inc. Sells 6,303 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Northwest Bancshares Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 12.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 45,335 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,303 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble comprises about 1.3% of Northwest Bancshares Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Northwest Bancshares Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $7,852,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PG shares. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $189.00 price objective for the company. Barclays downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. DZ Bank raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Nine equities research 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 MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 96,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $16,320,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,721 shares in the company, valued at $2,332,570. This represents a 87.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.89, for a total transaction of $6,289,463.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 263,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,508,763.93. This represents a 12.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 270,727 shares of company stock worth $46,014,037. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock opened at $170.77 on Wednesday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $142.50 and a twelve month 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $170.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $168.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $402.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.42.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

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

Procter & Gamble Company 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.