Howe & Rusling Inc. Raises Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Howe & Rusling Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,470 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 497 shares during the quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,085,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth about $1,615,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 129,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,714,000 after buying an additional 31,112 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 716,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,199,000 after acquiring an additional 17,573 shares during the period. Moment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at $558,000. Finally, Sava Infond d.o.o. acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter worth $1,980,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total transaction of $3,089,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 22,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,274.66. This trade represents a 44.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 143,450 shares of company stock valued at $23,988,008. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.47.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of PG opened at $166.48 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $153.52 and a 1-year high of $180.43. The stock has a market cap of $390.38 billion, a PE ratio of 26.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41.

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

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.01%.

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.