bLong Financial LLC Buys Shares of 3,009 The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

bLong Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $504,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the third quarter worth $33,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 972.0% in the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 268 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Costello Asset Management INC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2,142.9% in the third quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 46.7% in the fourth quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 330 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

NYSE:PG opened at $162.84 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $381.84 billion, a PE ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $153.52 and a fifty-two week high of $180.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.76. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $166.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.40.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly 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 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The company had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 64.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on PG. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reduced 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. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,189,463.68. This trade represents a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $2,210,944.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,002,804.35. This represents a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 151,097 shares of company stock valued at $25,635,076 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.