Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG) Holdings Decreased by World Equity Group Inc.

World Equity Group Inc. lessened its stake in Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG - Free Report) by 46.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,201 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,595 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc.'s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 933.3% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hoey Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 321.7% in the 4th quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 194 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Redburn Partners set a $161.00 price target on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $190.00 target price (up from $170.00) on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $164.00 to $177.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $200.00 to $181.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $178.86.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE PG opened at $158.93 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $163.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $166.07. Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $156.58 and a 52 week high of $180.43. The stock has a market cap of $372.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.23, a PEG ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.71.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $19.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.42 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.46% and a return on equity of 32.67%. The company's revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st were given a $1.0568 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 21st. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. Procter & Gamble's payout ratio is currently 67.14%.

Procter & Gamble 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.

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