Ellenbecker Investment Group Grows Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Ellenbecker Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,335 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Ellenbecker Investment Group’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $570,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 51,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,504,000 after buying an additional 2,415 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 17,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,515,000 after buying an additional 1,762 shares during the last quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 1,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stockman Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 63,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,302,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on PG shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. 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, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.88.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.6 %

PG stock traded up $0.96 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $161.50. 7,642,696 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,967,724. The company has a market capitalization of $380.01 billion, a PE ratio of 26.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $141.45 and a twelve month high of $163.14. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.13.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.77%. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $1.0065 dividend. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.85%.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total value of $135,517.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $634,634. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total transaction of $135,517.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $634,634. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total transaction of $620,719.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,908,891.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 279,918 shares of company stock worth $43,323,263. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.