Bell Bank Raises Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Bell Bank raised its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,122 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 234 shares during the quarter. Bell Bank’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,697,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 972.0% in the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 268 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Costello Asset Management INC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2,142.9% during the third quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 46.7% in the 4th quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 330 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In related news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total value of $14,819,328.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,189,463.68. This represents a 54.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.53.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE PG opened at $170.17 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $399.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.10, a PEG ratio of 3.76 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 has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $166.04 and its 200 day moving average is $169.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 64.17%.

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.