Ellis Investment Partners LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Ellis Investment Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,641 shares of the company’s stock after selling 87 shares during the period. Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,449,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 94,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,300,000 after buying an additional 4,035 shares in the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $668,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth approximately $569,000. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. now owns 123,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,764,000 after purchasing an additional 2,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,898,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $484,583,000 after purchasing an additional 201,695 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total value of $8,604,804.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,189,463.68. This represents a 54.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $2,210,944.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,002,804.35. This represents a 52.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 151,097 shares of company stock worth $25,635,076. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.53.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock opened at $162.84 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $166.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.40. The company has a market capitalization of $381.84 billion, a PE ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. 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 Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $153.52 and a 52 week high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 64.17%.

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.