Bath Savings Trust Co Reduces Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Bath Savings Trust Co lowered its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 4.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,938 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,036 shares during the period. Bath Savings Trust Co’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $6,977,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 229,794,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,524,976,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,061 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 56,472,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,457,000,000 after buying an additional 1,267,419 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter worth $5,244,463,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,395,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,928,107,000 after buying an additional 2,703,757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,197,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,386,194,000 after buying an additional 1,209,275 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of PG opened at $168.53 on Friday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $156.58 and a 1 year high of $180.43. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $164.21 and a 200-day moving average of $167.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $395.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.01. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The business had revenue of $19.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st were paid a dividend of $1.0568 per share. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 21st. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.38, for a total value of $161,380.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,386,111.70. The trade was a 1.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 10,520 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $1,669,208.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 25,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,995,627.94. This trade represents a 29.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PG. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $200.00 to $181.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $164.00 to $177.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.52.

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.