Highland Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Highland Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 110,437 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,464 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble accounts for about 1.1% of Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $19,128,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PG. Howard Financial Services LTD. grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 1,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 12.2% in the first quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 58,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,483,000 after purchasing an additional 6,345 shares in the last quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 43,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,750,000 after buying an additional 1,229 shares during the period. Sendero Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,696,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, Norwood Financial Corp boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Norwood Financial Corp now owns 3,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $500,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on PG. Hsbc Global Res raised Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $159.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.00.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $168.22 on Friday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $142.50 and a one year high of $177.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $396.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.00, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $171.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The firm’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. On average, analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 69.48%.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,954,538.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 3,373 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $573,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 21,513 shares in the company, valued at $3,657,210. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total transaction of $2,163,072.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,954,538.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 397,986 shares of company stock worth $67,642,430. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

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.