Versant Capital Management Inc Raises Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 26.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,444 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 724 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $577,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PG. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 7.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,538,327,000 after purchasing an additional 3,619,466 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,556,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,599,554,000 after buying an additional 689,282 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,632,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,567,556,000 after buying an additional 122,190 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 10.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,290,573,000 after acquiring an additional 1,760,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 4.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,380,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,183,522,000 after acquiring an additional 830,476 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total transaction of $2,163,072.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,954,538.34. This trade represents a 52.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total value of $8,604,804.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,189,463.68. This represents a 54.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 75,439 shares of company stock worth $13,317,460. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, December 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.45.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of PG opened at $165.98 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $170.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.87. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $146.28 and a twelve month high of $180.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $390.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.62, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.31%.

Procter & Gamble Profile

The Procter & Gamble Company engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. The company 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, SK-II, and Native brands.