1248 Management LLC Makes New $832,000 Investment in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

1248 Management LLC acquired a new stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 4,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $832,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter worth about $5,244,463,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,010,685,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1,195.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 3,222,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $580,596,000 after acquiring an additional 2,973,757 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,398,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,240,294,000 after acquiring an additional 2,846,560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,395,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,928,107,000 after purchasing an additional 2,703,757 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of PG opened at $159.99 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $375.10 billion, a PE ratio of 25.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company’s fifty day moving average is $167.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $168.08. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $156.58 and a fifty-two week high of $180.43.

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

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $1.0568 per share. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,386,111.70. This trade represents a 1.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.68, for a total transaction of $6,078,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,829,817.68. The trade was a 61.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,000 shares of company stock worth $9,330,060 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.80.

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.