Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 6,383 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 2.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 311,020 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,383 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $51,293,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth about $17,696,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 43.0% during the 4th quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 52,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,743,000 after purchasing an additional 15,900 shares in the last quarter. Steele Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 1st quarter worth approximately $204,000. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 17,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mosley Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter worth approximately $537,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PG shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays cut their target price on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 target price for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.16.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE PG opened at $171.54 on Friday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $141.45 and a 1-year high of $177.94. The company has a market cap of $404.86 billion, a PE ratio of 28.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a 50-day moving average of $170.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $165.59.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.71% and a return on equity of 33.46%. The company had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 19th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 65.85%.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CFO Andre Schulten sold 13,041 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $2,216,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 37,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,325,360. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total transaction of $1,458,045.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,537 shares in the company, valued at $1,902,451.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andre Schulten sold 13,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $2,216,970.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 37,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,325,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 375,553 shares of company stock worth $63,829,141 in the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Procter & Gamble Profile

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.