WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,460 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 240 shares during the quarter. WestHill Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 46,754,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,936,343,000 after purchasing an additional 510,559 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,320,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,717,246,000 after purchasing an additional 4,959,527 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 96,526.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,535,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,840,449,000 after purchasing an additional 38,495,676 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 9.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,193,916,000 after buying an additional 3,047,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,313,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,275,616,000 after buying an additional 670,862 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.5 %

Procter & Gamble stock traded up $0.80 during trading on Thursday, reaching $156.75. The stock had a trading volume of 2,062,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,785,568. 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 price of $159.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $152.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $368.84 billion, a PE ratio of 26.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $21.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.48 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 34.04%. The company’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.59 EPS. On average, analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 62.98%.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total transaction of $122,693.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $768,256.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total value of $620,719.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,908,891.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total transaction of $122,693.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at $768,256.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.53.

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.