New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 58,397 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,261,927 shares of the company’s stock after selling 58,397 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble comprises approximately 0.7% of New York State Common Retirement Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.14% of Procter & Gamble worth $546,862,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PG. Callahan Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 93,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,714,000 after buying an additional 813 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 38.1% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 96,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,138,000 after acquiring an additional 26,563 shares during the period. Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. now owns 73,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,271,000 after purchasing an additional 6,489 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 54,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,150,000 after purchasing an additional 901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Buckingham Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,983,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on PG shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $2,210,944.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,002,804.35. The trade was a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 151,097 shares of company stock valued at $25,635,076. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $165.34 on Wednesday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $153.52 and a one year high of $180.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $387.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.33, a PEG ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $166.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.46.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.66 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 64.17%.

Procter & Gamble Profile

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.