Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC Takes $413,000 Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $413,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PG. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at $5,244,463,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,010,685,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1,195.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 3,222,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $580,596,000 after buying an additional 2,973,757 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,398,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,240,294,000 after buying an additional 2,846,560 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 2,703,757 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.6%

PG stock opened at $165.95 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $164.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.33. 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 company has a market cap of $389.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.01. The company 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%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. On average, research analysts expect 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. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,386,111.70. This trade represents a 1.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total transaction of $3,089,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,274.66. The trade was a 44.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 64,520 shares of company stock worth $10,999,268 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on PG shares. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Redburn Atlantic cut Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $161.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $200.00 to $181.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.52.

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.