Private Management Group Inc. Makes New Investment in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Private Management Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.5% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 94,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,300,000 after purchasing an additional 4,035 shares during the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $668,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter worth $569,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,898,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $484,583,000 after buying an additional 201,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.4% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 185,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,065,000 after acquiring an additional 6,077 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total transaction of $8,604,804.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,189,463.68. This trade represents a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the company’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 owns 11,595 shares in the company, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 151,097 shares of company stock valued at $25,635,076. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $168.96 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $396.18 billion, a PE ratio of 26.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $167.74 and a 200-day moving average of $169.41. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $153.52 and a one year high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.66 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. Procter & Gamble’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group cut their target price on Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.