Middleton & Co. Inc. MA Lowers Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA decreased its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,466 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,011 shares during the quarter. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $2,425,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PG. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,538,327,000 after acquiring an additional 3,619,466 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 10.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,290,573,000 after acquiring an additional 1,760,214 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the third quarter worth approximately $301,950,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 25,115.7% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,736,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,184,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729,969 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 416.1% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,818,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,016,000 after purchasing an additional 1,466,115 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total transaction of $3,089,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,274.66. This represents a 44.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total value of $14,819,328.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $173.84 on Friday. 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 Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $153.52 and a 1 year high of $180.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $407.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.68, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $166.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.54.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The business had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Eight 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.42.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.