Kennon Green & Company LLC Decreases Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Kennon Green & Company LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 10.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,433 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,101 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble comprises approximately 1.4% of Kennon Green & Company LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Kennon Green & Company LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,382,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,193,916,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047,557 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 2.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,313,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,275,616,000 after purchasing an additional 670,862 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,003,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,298,184,000 after buying an additional 131,339 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 3.2% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,170,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,629,299,000 after acquiring an additional 346,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,492,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,390,963,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387,539 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PG has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Procter & Gamble in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price target for the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.76.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total transaction of $3,549,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,943,835.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,858,265.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total value of $3,549,040.00. Following the sale, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 55,865 shares of company stock valued at $9,009,280. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

PG stock traded down $0.12 on Monday, reaching $161.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,635,749 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,902,852. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $141.45 and a 52 week high of $164.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $380.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $159.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $153.65.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 65.85%.

Procter & Gamble Company 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.