Cathy Pareto & Associates Inc. Buys Shares of 1,354 The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Cathy Pareto & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Costello Asset Management INC lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2,142.9% during the 3rd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 58.0% during the 4th quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 138.7% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $70,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $2,210,944.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,002,804.35. The trade was a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at $28,313,845.76. The trade was a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 151,097 shares of company stock valued at $25,635,076 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

PG stock opened at $166.35 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.76. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $153.52 and a 52 week high of $180.43. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $168.83 and its 200 day moving average is $169.42. The firm has a market cap of $390.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.45.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.66 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 32.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. Research analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock 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. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.53.

Procter & Gamble Profile

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.