Blue Square Asset Management LLC Buys 299 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Blue Square Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,411 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. Blue Square Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PG. Fiera Capital Corp increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1,135.1% in the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 20,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,412,000 after purchasing an additional 19,013 shares during the last quarter. Granite FO LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $371,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter valued at $58,000. Wallace Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Second Line Capital LLC grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 27.2% in the second quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 2,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 597 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on PG. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group decreased 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 note on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Eight 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.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.53.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE PG opened at $169.57 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $168.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $399.34 billion, a PE ratio of 27.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $153.52 and a 12 month high of $180.43.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21,657,595.49 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 32.88% and a net margin of 18.35%. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. Equities analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. 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 2.37%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 11,595 shares in the company, valued at $2,002,804.35. The trade was a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 172,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 151,097 shares of company stock valued at $25,635,076 over the last quarter. 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.