Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 2,035,036 Shares of Procter & Gamble Company (The) $PG

Alliancebernstein L.P. lowered its stake in Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG) by 34.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,843,402 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,035,036 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.16% of Procter & Gamble worth $590,539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,579,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,702,000 after buying an additional 137,588 shares during the last quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. now owns 46,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,168,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.1% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,007,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $923,068,000 after acquiring an additional 502,856 shares during the last quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 297.5% during the third quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 10,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,588,000 after acquiring an additional 7,735 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 126.2% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,483,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $380,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,385,607 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 5,549 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.29, for a total value of $917,194.21. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $170,083.41. This trade represents a 84.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 1,809 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total transaction of $288,463.14. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,215 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,818,083.90. This represents a 5.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 348,618 shares of company stock valued at $55,462,643. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on PG. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $177.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $165.00 in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.33.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:PG opened at $150.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $137.62 and a 1-year high of $174.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $349.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 0.37. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $153.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $151.00.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.36 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 32.21% and a net margin of 19.30%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.88 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 23rd were issued a dividend of $1.0568 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 23rd. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 62.67%.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) is a multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble, P&G has grown into one of the world’s largest producers of branded consumer packaged goods. The company focuses on developing, manufacturing and marketing a broad portfolio of household and personal care products sold to consumers and retailers worldwide.

P&G’s product offering spans several core business categories, including Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric & Home Care, and Baby, Feminine & Family Care.