Investment Advisory Group LLC Reduces Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Investment Advisory Group LLC decreased its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,098 shares of the company’s stock after selling 168 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble comprises about 1.2% of Investment Advisory Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Investment Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $3,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,538,327,000 after purchasing an additional 3,619,466 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,556,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,599,554,000 after buying an additional 689,282 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,632,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,567,556,000 after purchasing an additional 122,190 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 10.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,290,573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,380,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,183,522,000 after buying an additional 830,476 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.25.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Procter & Gamble stock opened at $166.20 on Friday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $152.06 and a 52-week high of $180.43. The company has a market cap of $391.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.66, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $168.97 and its 200 day moving average is $169.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21,657,595.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 69.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total transaction of $8,604,804.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at $7,189,463.68. This trade represents a 54.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $2,210,944.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,002,804.35. This trade represents a 52.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.