Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. Decreases Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. lessened its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 42.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,052 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,758 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble accounts for 1.6% of Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $2,859,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Costello Asset Management INC boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2,142.9% during the 3rd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter valued at about $58,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 58.0% during the 4th quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on PG. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. 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 research note on Thursday. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $163.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.65.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 1,992 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $338,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,783 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,110. This represents a 12.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total transaction of $2,163,072.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,954,538.34. The trade was a 52.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 75,439 shares of company stock worth $13,317,460. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PG opened at $161.35 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $169.19 and a 200 day moving average of $169.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $379.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.45. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12-month low of $146.28 and a 12-month high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.31%.

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.