The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Acquired by Verum Partners LLC

Verum Partners LLC lifted its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,446 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the quarter. Verum Partners LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,081,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Costello Asset Management INC lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2,142.9% in the 3rd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter worth $58,000. Mendota Financial Group LLC increased its position 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. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 138.7% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:PG opened at $164.57 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.75. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $152.06 and a 1 year high of $180.43. The stock has a market cap of $387.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $169.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21,657,595.49 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group dropped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $167.00 to $161.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $176.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value 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 represents a 52.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were 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 directly 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. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.