Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Lowers Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc reduced its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,336,171 shares of the company’s stock after selling 53,111 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble comprises approximately 0.7% of Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $385,281,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PG. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the second quarter worth $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 64.7% during the 1st quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PG. Dbs Bank cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com lowered Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays decreased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wolfe Research upgraded Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 price objective for the company. Seven equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.16.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $174.22 on Friday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $141.45 and a 12 month high of $177.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $411.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $170.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.69.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.69 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 17.71%. The business’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.69%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 11,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,451.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.89, for a total transaction of $6,289,463.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 263,537 shares in the company, valued at $44,508,763.93. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value of $1,458,045.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,902,451.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 375,553 shares of company stock valued at $63,829,141 in the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is currently 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.