Summit Financial LLC Grows Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Summit Financial LLC grew its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,260 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the quarter. Summit Financial LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $3,262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dfpg Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 24,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,680,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 26,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,897,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 94,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,772,000 after buying an additional 12,016 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,003,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,298,184,000 after buying an additional 131,339 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Raymond James boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Argus boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PG traded up $0.18 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $163.38. The company had a trading volume of 7,542,978 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,949,876. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $141.45 and a twelve month high of $164.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $385.60 billion, a PE ratio of 26.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $159.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $1.0065 dividend. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.85%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.90, for a total value of $5,049,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,739 shares in the company, valued at $1,586,483.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total transaction of $122,693.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at $768,256.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.90, for a total value of $5,049,900.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 9,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,586,483.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 86,865 shares of company stock worth $14,059,180. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Procter & Gamble Company 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.