Ledyard National Bank Boosts Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Ledyard National Bank raised its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 85,091 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,644 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble comprises about 1.3% of Ledyard National Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $12,469,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PG. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP now owns 66,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,759,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 15.0% in the third quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $588,000 after buying an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Heritage Financial Services LLC now owns 12,669 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,848,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Financial & Tax Architects LLC lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC now owns 35,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,168,000 after buying an additional 988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 858,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,166,000 after acquiring an additional 39,808 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Barclays boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.76.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total value of $620,719.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,908,891.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total value of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at $1,858,265.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total value of $620,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,908,891.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,865 shares of company stock worth $9,009,280 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.2 %

PG traded up $0.37 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $161.66. 4,620,889 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,928,548. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12-month low of $141.45 and a 12-month high of $164.32. The firm has a market cap of $381.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $159.72 and a 200 day moving average of $153.78.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. Procter & Gamble’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 65.85%.

Procter & Gamble Profile

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It operates through five segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment offers conditioners, shampoos, styling aids, and treatments under the Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, and Rejoice brands; and antiperspirants and deodorants, personal cleansing, and skin care products under the Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Secret, and SK-II brands.