DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Sells 32,494 Shares of Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale trimmed its holdings in Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG - Free Report) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,417,127 shares of the company's stock after selling 32,494 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble accounts for approximately 1.5% of DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned about 0.19% of Procter & Gamble worth $746,088,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,386,111.70. This trade represents 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 firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on PG. Redburn Partners set a $161.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $200.00 to $181.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $178.45.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Procter & Gamble stock traded down $1.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $156.95. The company had a trading volume of 8,051,886 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,596,124. Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $155.95 and a 1 year high of $180.43. 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 company has a market capitalization of $367.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.91, a P/E/G ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.40. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $161.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $164.94.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last released 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. The business had revenue of $19.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.42 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.46% and a return on equity of 32.67%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a $1.0568 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Procter & Gamble's dividend payout ratio is presently 67.14%.

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.