Kovack Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Position in Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG)

Kovack Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG - Free Report) by 20.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,017 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,512 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $2,389,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Hoey Investments Inc. lifted 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 valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. 10Elms LLP bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 10,520 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 25,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,995,627.94. This trade represents a 29.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 1,000 shares of the firm'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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,965 shares in the company, valued at $8,386,111.70. The trade was a 1.89% 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 company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PG. Erste Group Bank cut Procter & Gamble from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $160.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $164.00 to $177.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $161.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $176.12.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:PG traded down $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $158.28. 5,799,883 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,070,670. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $371.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.12, a P/E/G ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 0.40. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $161.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $164.22. Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $151.90 and a 1 year high of $180.43.

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

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a $1.0568 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. Procter & Gamble's dividend payout ratio is presently 67.14%.

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.