Woodline Partners LP Acquires Shares of 136,148 The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 136,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,825,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PG. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,855,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Delta Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Delta Capital Management LLC now owns 26,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,503,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $972,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 15,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,553,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the period. Finally, Cascade Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $509,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.52.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of PG stock opened at $165.66 on Wednesday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $156.58 and a fifty-two week high of $180.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $388.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.38, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $164.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.30.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $19.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.42 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. Procter & Gamble’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st were given a $1.0568 dividend. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 21st. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 10,520 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $1,669,208.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 25,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,995,627.94. This represents a 29.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 1,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.38, for a total transaction of $161,380.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 51,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,386,111.70. The trade was a 1.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 64,520 shares of company stock worth $10,999,268 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble 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.