MJP Associates Inc. ADV Cuts Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

MJP Associates Inc. ADV reduced its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,985 shares of the company’s stock after selling 555 shares during the quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $877,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in the first quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $529,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 5.7% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 18,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,073,000. Finally, Wsfs Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Wsfs Capital Management LLC now owns 4,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $650,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

NYSE PG traded down $0.36 on Thursday, hitting $162.25. 6,768,850 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,853,413. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $141.45 and a 52 week high of $163.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $158.42 and a 200-day moving average of $152.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $381.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.14. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 34.04% and a net margin of 17.60%. The company had revenue of $21.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.59 EPS. Procter & Gamble’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 19th were given a $0.9407 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 18th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 74,443 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.30, for a total value of $11,412,111.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,160.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 74,443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.30, for a total value of $11,412,111.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,160.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total value of $15,618,683.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,097,637.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 279,063 shares of company stock valued at $43,187,745 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Profile

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It operates through five segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment offers conditioners, shampoos, styling aids, and treatments under the Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, and Rejoice brands; and antiperspirants and deodorants, personal cleansing, and skin care products under the Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Secret, and SK-II brands.