The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Stake Increased by Cowa LLC

Cowa LLC grew its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,951 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. Cowa LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 416.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.9% during 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 stake 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 in the last quarter. McAdam LLC raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 10.5% during the third quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 5,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $901,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.2% in the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 479,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,102,000 after acquiring an additional 5,469 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total transaction of $8,604,804.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at $7,189,463.68. The trade was a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. 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 Stock Performance

NYSE PG opened at $170.17 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $399.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.10, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $166.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.44. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $153.52 and a twelve month 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.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 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.