Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Has $2.95 Million Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,106 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $2,946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PG. Demars Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 1,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Mechanics Financial Corp grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 16,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,372,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LWM Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. LWM Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $461,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on PG. Raymond James upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.8 %

PG traded up $1.32 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $165.76. The stock had a trading volume of 6,374,243 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,896,868. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $141.45 and a twelve month high of $166.04. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $154.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $391.22 billion, a PE ratio of 27.09, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company 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 $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,859 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value of $5,253,549.10. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,605,961.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,859 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value of $5,253,549.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 9,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,605,961.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 118,724 shares of company stock valued at $19,312,729 over the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.