HighTower Advisors LLC Raises Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,511,046 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 215,226 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble makes up about 0.6% of HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $420,977,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 933.3% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 972.0% in the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 268 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.47.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 1.8 %

PG opened at $173.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $167.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.84. The company has a market cap of $405.83 billion, a PE ratio of 27.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $153.52 and a 1 year 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.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.66 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 143,450 shares of company stock worth $23,988,008 in the last 90 days. 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.