Country Trust Bank Acquires 5,258 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Country Trust Bank raised its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 293,924 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,258 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble makes up 1.2% of Country Trust Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Country Trust Bank’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $50,908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $17,696,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 43.0% in the fourth quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 52,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,743,000 after purchasing an additional 15,900 shares in the last quarter. Steele Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 1st quarter worth $204,000. United Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth $3,463,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 67.2% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 26,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,420,000 after buying an additional 10,777 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.22, for a total value of $76,149.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,072 shares in the company, valued at $2,212,043.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.22, for a total value of $76,149.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,072 shares in the company, valued at $2,212,043.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value of $1,458,045.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,902,451.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 383,194 shares of company stock worth $65,140,718. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE PG opened at $168.16 on Wednesday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12-month low of $141.60 and a 12-month high of $177.94. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $171.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $396.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.69 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 17.71%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.37 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PG shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $189.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $182.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.89.

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.