Avestar Capital LLC Grows Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Avestar Capital LLC raised its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 44,704 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 755 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble comprises about 0.8% of Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $7,743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PG. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 7.5% in the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 16,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,794,000 after acquiring an additional 1,130 shares during the last quarter. Covington Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Covington Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 36,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,321,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 188,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,587,000 after buying an additional 2,050 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 2.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,556,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,599,554,000 after buying an additional 689,282 shares during the period. Finally, Elios Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the third quarter valued at approximately $461,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of PG opened at $177.11 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $170.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $168.74. The stock has a market cap of $417.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.59, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.42. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12-month low of $142.50 and a 12-month high of $178.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The firm had revenue of $21.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Dbs Bank cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays cut Procter & Gamble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $163.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.45.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total transaction of $108,826.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,319,882.65. This represents a 3.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.89, for a total value of $6,289,463.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 263,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,508,763.93. This trade represents a 12.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 72,473 shares of company stock valued at $12,313,697 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

The Procter & Gamble Company engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. The company 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, SK-II, and Native brands.