The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Acquired by Smart Money Group LLC

Smart Money Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 13.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,274 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the quarter. Smart Money Group LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PG. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,193,916,000 after buying an additional 3,047,557 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,313,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,275,616,000 after purchasing an additional 670,862 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,003,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,298,184,000 after purchasing an additional 131,339 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,170,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,629,299,000 after purchasing an additional 346,925 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,556,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,547,021,000 after buying an additional 559,358 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on PG shares. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Argus raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE PG traded up $0.44 on Thursday, hitting $163.84. 5,595,458 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,933,998. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $159.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $386.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.43. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $141.45 and a twelve month high of $164.49.

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

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $1.0065 dividend. This is a boost 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 65.85%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,858,265.43. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,858,265.43. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total value of $620,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,908,891.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 86,865 shares of company stock valued at $14,059,180. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.