Howe & Rusling Inc. Acquires 497 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Howe & Rusling Inc. boosted its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,470 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,085,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter worth $1,010,685,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,538,327,000 after purchasing an additional 3,619,466 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 1,195.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,973,757 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,290,573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 25,115.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,736,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,184,000 after buying an additional 1,729,969 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,313,845.76. This trade represents a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total value of $3,089,880.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 22,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,274.66. This represents a 44.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 143,450 shares of company stock worth $23,988,008. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

PG opened at $166.48 on Thursday. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $168.31 and a 200 day moving average of $169.47. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $153.52 and a 52-week high of $180.43. The stock has a market cap of $390.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.51, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.66 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 64.01%.

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.