4,315 Shares in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Acquired by Sovereign Investment Advisors LLC

Sovereign Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 4,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $723,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.0% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,442,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 14.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,734,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $820,031,000 after purchasing an additional 608,168 shares in the last quarter. United Bank grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.7% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 13,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,315,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 43.8% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 5,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $896,000 after purchasing an additional 1,575 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total value of $3,089,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,274.66. The trade was a 44.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 value of $14,819,328.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at $28,313,845.76. This trade represents a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 143,450 shares of company stock worth $23,988,008. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:PG opened at $168.20 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $394.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $153.52 and a twelve month high of $180.43. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $167.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.81.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $21.88 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.39%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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 report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.47.

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.