Focus Partners Wealth Buys 503,290 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 44.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,637,047 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 503,290 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble comprises about 0.8% of Focus Partners Wealth’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Focus Partners Wealth owned about 0.07% of Procter & Gamble worth $289,457,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cladis Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Cladis Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,807 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 27,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,642,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA now owns 236,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,833,000 after buying an additional 2,179 shares during the period. Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 55,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,374,000 after buying an additional 1,818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. now owns 123,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,764,000 after buying an additional 2,568 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on PG. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup cut their price target on Procter & Gamble from $200.00 to $181.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $161.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James reduced their price target on Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was 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 $8,386,111.70. This represents a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.68, for a total value 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 $3,829,817.68. This represents a 61.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 64,520 shares of company stock valued at $10,999,268 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 0.6 %

PG stock opened at $157.73 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $369.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $165.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.57. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $156.58 and a one year high of $180.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

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

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.0568 per share. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

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.