The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Sold by Vista Investment Management

Vista Investment Management decreased its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,159 shares of the company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Vista Investment Management’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PG. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 933.3% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Hoey Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 321.7% in the fourth quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Atlantic Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 95.3% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $164.00 to $177.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total transaction of $3,089,880.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,274.66. This trade represents a 44.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 10,520 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $1,669,208.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 25,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,995,627.94. This represents a 29.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 64,520 shares of company stock valued at $10,999,268 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

PG stock opened at $164.78 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $386.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $164.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.31. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $156.58 and a 52 week high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.01. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The business had revenue of $19.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. Procter & Gamble’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st were paid a dividend of $1.0568 per share. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 21st. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

About Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.