The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Acquired by Echo45 Advisors LLC

Echo45 Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,653 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the quarter. Echo45 Advisors LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wyrmwood Management LLC bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Mendota Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 636.6% in the 4th quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 302 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 206.6% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 417 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 49.7% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 455 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of PG stock traded up $0.20 on Thursday, reaching $157.16. 7,812,560 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,858,717. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12-month low of $141.45 and a 12-month high of $163.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $369.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.44. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $159.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.80.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $21.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.48 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 34.04% and a net margin of 17.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.59 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.98%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total transaction of $15,618,683.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,097,637.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total transaction of $15,618,683.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,097,637.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 74,443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.30, for a total value of $11,412,111.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,160.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745 in the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on PG. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.53.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.