The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) is Stewart & Patten Co. LLC’s 8th Largest Position

Stewart & Patten Co. LLC cut its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 160,938 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,154 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble comprises 3.9% of Stewart & Patten Co. LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Stewart & Patten Co. LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $26,112,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Wyrmwood Management LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock opened at $162.54 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $383.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.41. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $141.45 and a fifty-two week high of $169.41. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $165.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $158.89.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The business’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th were given a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 65.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sundar G. Raman sold 31,924 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.95, for a total value of $5,329,711.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 19,042 shares in the company, valued at $3,179,061.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Sundar G. Raman sold 31,924 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.95, for a total value of $5,329,711.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,179,061.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at $1,858,265.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 154,544 shares of company stock worth $25,413,051 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PG shares. BNP Paribas started coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 price objective on the stock. Argus boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.72.

About Procter & Gamble

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It operates through five segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment offers conditioners, shampoos, styling aids, and treatments under the Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, and Rejoice brands; and antiperspirants and deodorants, personal cleansing, and skin care products under the Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Secret, and SK-II brands.