Bard Financial Services Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Bard Financial Services Inc. decreased its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 6.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 70,486 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,625 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble comprises approximately 1.4% of Bard Financial Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $12,208,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Acorn Creek Capital LLC raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 2,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 5,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $963,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Hudson Value Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Traveka Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 3,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $616,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PG has been the subject of a number of research reports. DA Davidson raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $209.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.45.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of PG stock opened at $172.13 on Wednesday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12-month low of $142.50 and a 12-month high of $180.43. The company has a market capitalization of $405.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $170.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The firm had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now owns 11,566 shares in the company, valued at $1,954,538.34. The trade was a 52.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total transaction of $8,604,804.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,189,463.68. This represents a 54.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 83,080 shares of company stock valued at $14,629,038. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.