Appleton Partners Inc. MA Decreases Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA lowered its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 65,346 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,517 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $10,955,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PG. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 972.0% during the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Costello Asset Management INC lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2,142.9% in the 3rd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 58.0% during the 4th quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PG shares. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.53.

Insider Activity

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total value of $14,819,328.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at $7,189,463.68. The trade was a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 151,097 shares of company stock valued at $25,635,076. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

PG stock opened at $167.99 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $167.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.41. The company has a market capitalization of $393.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.75, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.45. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $153.52 and a twelve month high of $180.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The company had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid 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 2.40%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.17%.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.