Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Reduces Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE cut its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 35,553 shares of the company’s stock after selling 435 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble makes up approximately 1.2% of Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $5,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PG. WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 86,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,746,000 after acquiring an additional 1,855 shares in the last quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 55,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,075,000 after acquiring an additional 1,689 shares in the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 63,055 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,240,000 after acquiring an additional 8,587 shares in the last quarter. Shotwell Rutter Baer Inc acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth approximately $219,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $574,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 74,443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.30, for a total value of $11,412,111.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 973 shares in the company, valued at $149,160.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 74,443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.30, for a total value of $11,412,111.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,160.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total value of $3,549,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,943,835.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745 over the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:PG traded down $0.47 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $162.14. 3,075,663 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,839,737. The firm has a market cap of $381.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.44. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $141.45 and a twelve month high of $163.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $158.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.09.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $21.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.48 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 34.04% and a net margin of 17.60%. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 19th were paid a $0.9407 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 18th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.41.

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.