Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC Grows Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,660 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 285 shares during the quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in the first quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.2% in the first quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 5.7% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 18,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,073,000. Finally, Wsfs Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Wsfs Capital Management LLC now owns 4,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $650,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.41.

Insider Activity

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total transaction of $15,618,683.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 163,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,097,637.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total transaction of $15,618,683.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at $25,097,637.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total value of $3,549,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 36,845 shares in the company, valued at $5,943,835.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 279,063 shares of company stock valued at $43,187,745 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

NYSE:PG traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $162.47. The stock had a trading volume of 3,422,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,844,717. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $382.30 billion, a PE ratio of 27.18, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.44. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $141.45 and a 52 week high of $163.14. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $158.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $152.09.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.14. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 34.04%. The company had revenue of $21.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.59 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 19th were paid a dividend of $0.9407 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 18th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 62.98%.

About Procter & Gamble

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It operates through five segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment offers conditioners, shampoos, styling aids, and treatments under the Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, and Rejoice brands; and antiperspirants and deodorants, personal cleansing, and skin care products under the Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Secret, and SK-II brands.