Black Diamond Financial LLC Purchases 2,637 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Black Diamond Financial LLC boosted its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 74.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,161 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,637 shares during the quarter. Black Diamond Financial LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,033,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BCGM Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. BCGM Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 634 shares in the last quarter. South Dakota Investment Council increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 36.4% during the 4th quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 38,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,493,000 after purchasing an additional 10,338 shares in the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 186.5% during the 4th quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 20,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,486,000 after purchasing an additional 13,538 shares in the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 742,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,469,000 after purchasing an additional 47,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Delta Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,884,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on PG. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were 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 owns 39,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,189,463.68. This represents a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. The trade was a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:PG opened at $170.17 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $399.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $166.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.45. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $153.52 and a 1 year high of $180.43. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.66 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.01%.

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.