The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Bought by J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,122 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 767 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $10,918,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 416.1% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,818,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,016,000 after purchasing an additional 1,466,115 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,503,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,432,000 after buying an additional 56,583 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,442,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter valued at $398,000. Finally, First Bancorp Inc ME grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME now owns 9,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after buying an additional 763 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 4.8 %

PG stock opened at $162.84 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $381.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $153.52 and a 52 week high of $180.43. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $166.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.66 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on PG. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective 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. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total value of $8,604,804.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,189,463.68. This represents a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,002,804.35. This represents a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 151,097 shares of company stock valued at $25,635,076 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.