HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 29,925 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,295,820 shares of the company’s stock after selling 29,925 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble comprises approximately 0.6% of HighTower Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. HighTower Advisors LLC owned 0.10% of Procter & Gamble worth $397,704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PG. FMR LLC lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 689,282 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,632,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,567,556,000 after purchasing an additional 122,190 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 4.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,380,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,183,522,000 after purchasing an additional 830,476 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,422,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,844,442,000 after purchasing an additional 105,734 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 14,049,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,433,400,000 after buying an additional 426,409 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total transaction of $8,604,804.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,189,463.68. This trade represents a 54.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total transaction of $2,163,072.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,954,538.34. This represents a 52.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 83,080 shares of company stock valued at $14,629,038 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PG opened at $179.71 on Tuesday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $142.50 and a one year high of $180.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $423.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $170.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.11.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The business had revenue of $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 69.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on PG. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target for the company. DA Davidson upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.45.

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.