The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Acquired by Vise Technologies Inc.

Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 84.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,636 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,117 shares during the quarter. Vise Technologies Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $4,801,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 229,794,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,524,976,000 after acquiring an additional 1,592,061 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 56,472,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,457,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267,419 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,244,463,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,395,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,928,107,000 after acquiring an additional 2,703,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,197,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,386,194,000 after purchasing an additional 1,209,275 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $161.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $200.00 to $181.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.52.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

NYSE:PG opened at $165.05 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $164.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.29. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $156.58 and a 1-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. The firm has a market cap of $386.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.01. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The firm had revenue of $19.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st were issued a $1.0568 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 21st. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 10,520 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $1,669,208.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 25,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,995,627.94. This trade represents a 29.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,829,817.68. This trade represents a 61.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 64,520 shares of company stock valued at $10,999,268. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.