Two Sigma Securities LLC Sells 40,626 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Two Sigma Securities LLC trimmed its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG - Free Report) by 92.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,142 shares of the company's stock after selling 40,626 shares during the period. Two Sigma Securities LLC's holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $527,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 229,794,073 shares of the company's stock worth $38,524,976,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,061 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 56,472,195 shares of the company's stock worth $9,457,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,419 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter worth about $5,244,463,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,197,996 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,386,194,000 after buying an additional 1,209,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,692,813 shares of the company's stock worth $3,133,850,000 after buying an additional 312,203 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on PG shares. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Procter & Gamble from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $164.00 to $177.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Citigroup lowered their target price on 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, Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $180.79.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE PG traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $162.57. 5,368,789 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,162,468. The stock has a market capitalization of $381.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.43. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $156.58 and a twelve month high of $180.43. The business's 50-day moving average is $167.97 and its 200-day moving average is $168.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a $1.0568 dividend. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. Procter & Gamble's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 now owns 51,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,386,111.70. This trade represents a 1.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,000 shares of company stock valued at $9,330,060 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.