Howland Capital Management LLC Purchases 7,630 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Howland Capital Management LLC lifted its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 118,164 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,630 shares during the quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $19,810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. now owns 123,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,764,000 after purchasing an additional 2,568 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 148.8% during the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 25,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,289,000 after purchasing an additional 15,351 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 161,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,148,000 after purchasing an additional 22,942 shares during the last quarter. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. now owns 9,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,631,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 647,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,576,000 after buying an additional 2,163 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $2,210,944.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,002,804.35. This represents a 52.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total value of $8,604,804.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at $7,189,463.68. The trade was a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 151,097 shares of company stock valued at $25,635,076. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.53.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of PG stock opened at $167.99 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $167.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.40. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $153.52 and a one year high of $180.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $393.91 billion, a PE ratio of 26.75, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its 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. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The business had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.17%.

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.