Athena Investment Management Decreases Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Athena Investment Management trimmed its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,689 shares of the company’s stock after selling 447 shares during the period. Athena Investment Management’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,121,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PG. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 416.1% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,818,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,016,000 after acquiring an additional 1,466,115 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.9% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,503,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,432,000 after acquiring an additional 56,583 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 1.0% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,442,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the third quarter worth $181,000. Finally, Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 3.9% in the third quarter. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. now owns 9,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,673,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at $28,313,845.76. The trade was a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total value of $3,089,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,274.66. This represents a 44.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on PG. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, February 10th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.42.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of PG stock opened at $173.84 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $166.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.54. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12-month low of $153.52 and a 12-month high of $180.43. The firm has a market cap of $407.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.45.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly 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. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.01%.

Procter & Gamble Company 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.