Kelman Lazarov Inc. Boosts Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Kelman Lazarov Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 17.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,459 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the period. Kelman Lazarov Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $915,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 468,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,536,000 after buying an additional 39,709 shares in the last quarter. F M Investments LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 62,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,461,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 59,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,971,000 after acquiring an additional 770 shares during the period. Tandem Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $737,000. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1,709.5% in the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,006,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,825,000 after acquiring an additional 1,895,421 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, February 10th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.00.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock opened at $162.51 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $168.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.72. The company has a market cap of $381.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.88, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.43. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.66 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.0568 per share. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.