Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC Boosts Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,660 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 285 shares during the quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PG. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.1% in the second quarter. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $912,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $856,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Watchman Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.4% in the third quarter. Watchman Group Inc. now owns 18,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,633,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, Auxier Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.3% in the third quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 20,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,983,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PG has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Procter & Gamble in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.41.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of PG stock traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $162.47. 3,422,378 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,844,717. The company has a market capitalization of $382.30 billion, a PE ratio of 27.18, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $141.45 and a 52 week high of $163.14. The business has a 50 day moving average of $158.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $152.09.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.14. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 34.04% and a net margin of 17.60%. The business had revenue of $21.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.59 EPS. Procter & Gamble’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 19th were paid a dividend of $0.9407 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 18th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total value of $15,618,683.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 163,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,097,637.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total value of $15,618,683.28. Following the sale, the insider now owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at $25,097,637.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,275 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.90, for a total value of $4,844,497.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 9,623 shares in the company, valued at $1,490,602.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.