RIA Advisory Group LLC Trims Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

RIA Advisory Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 89.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,043 shares of the company’s stock after selling 27,148 shares during the quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PG. Wyrmwood Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Mendota Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 636.6% during the 4th quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 206.6% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the period. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 49.7% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PG. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.53.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total transaction of $3,549,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,845 shares in the company, valued at $5,943,835.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total value of $122,693.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at $768,256.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total transaction of $3,549,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,943,835.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE PG traded up $0.85 on Friday, hitting $158.14. The stock had a trading volume of 11,925,739 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,931,645. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $159.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $152.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $141.45 and a 52-week high of $163.14. The stock has a market cap of $372.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 34.04%. The business had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 67.34%.

About Procter & Gamble

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.