Abel Hall LLC Increases Stock Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Abel Hall LLC raised its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 17.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,810 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the quarter. Abel Hall LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 94,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,300,000 after purchasing an additional 4,035 shares during the period. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter worth about $668,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth about $569,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,898,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $484,583,000 after purchasing an additional 201,695 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 185,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,065,000 after purchasing an additional 6,077 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $2,210,944.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,595 shares in the company, valued at $2,002,804.35. This trade represents a 52.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total transaction of $8,604,804.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,189,463.68. The trade was a 54.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 151,097 shares of company stock valued at $25,635,076 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on PG. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.53.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of PG stock opened at $167.43 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 firm has a market capitalization of $392.60 billion, a PE ratio of 26.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $168.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.39. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $153.52 and a 52 week high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.66 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

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

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.