Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Has $589,000 Stock Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,018 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $589,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 9.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,193,916,000 after buying an additional 3,047,557 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,313,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,275,616,000 after purchasing an additional 670,862 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,003,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,298,184,000 after buying an additional 131,339 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,170,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,629,299,000 after buying an additional 346,925 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,492,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,390,963,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387,539 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PG traded down $1.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $161.24. 5,659,643 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,957,020. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $380.55 billion, a PE ratio of 26.35, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $159.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.51. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $141.45 and a 12 month high of $164.32.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,858,265.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total value of $7,020,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $151,788. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at $1,858,265.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 100,865 shares of company stock valued at $16,029,280 in the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on PG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price target on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.76.

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.