Centric Wealth Management Increases Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Centric Wealth Management boosted its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,609 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the period. Centric Wealth Management’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,193,916,000 after buying an additional 3,047,557 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,313,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,275,616,000 after purchasing an additional 670,862 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,209,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,336,552,000 after purchasing an additional 206,165 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,170,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,629,299,000 after purchasing an additional 346,925 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,556,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,547,021,000 after purchasing an additional 559,358 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Argus lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 0.4 %

PG traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $165.10. 2,462,324 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,845,249. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $160.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $154.49. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $141.45 and a 52-week high of $166.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $389.66 billion, a PE ratio of 27.06, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. Procter & Gamble’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 65.69%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total value of $620,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,908,891.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total value of $620,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,908,891.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,859 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value of $5,253,549.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 9,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,605,961.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 118,724 shares of company stock worth $19,312,729 in the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company 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.