Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Raises Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. grew its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 17.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,055 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,788 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble makes up about 1.0% of Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $9,533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dfpg Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 24,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,680,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 94,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,772,000 after acquiring an additional 12,016 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,003,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,298,184,000 after acquiring an additional 131,339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 105.5% in the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 59,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,699,000 after acquiring an additional 30,473 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PG shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price objective for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total transaction of $135,517.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,004 shares in the company, valued at $634,634. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total value of $135,517.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,004 shares in the company, valued at $634,634. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total transaction of $15,618,683.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 163,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,097,637.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 279,918 shares of company stock worth $43,323,263 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of PG stock traded up $0.96 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $161.50. 7,642,490 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,968,534. The firm has a market capitalization of $380.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $159.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.13. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $141.45 and a 52-week high of $163.14.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.77%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $1.0065 dividend. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 65.85%.

About Procter & Gamble

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.