Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Sells 19,612 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC decreased its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 63.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 11,535 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,612 shares during the quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,902,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,041,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $336,729,000 after acquiring an additional 72,970 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 1,465.8% during the second quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 167,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,634,000 after purchasing an additional 156,857 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at about $856,000. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 1.2% in the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 597,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,601,000 after buying an additional 7,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Delta Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.7% in the second quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 22,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,636,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Dbs Bank lowered Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,451.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.22, for a total value of $76,149.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,212,043.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value of $1,458,045.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,451.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 375,553 shares of company stock worth $63,829,141 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

PG stock opened at $173.55 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $170.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.17. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $141.45 and a 52 week high of $177.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $409.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41.

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

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th were given a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.85%.

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.