Blue Trust Inc. Has $14.92 Million Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 13.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 86,138 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,020 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $14,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cathy Pareto & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at $227,000. PFG Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 50,762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,510,000 after purchasing an additional 2,304 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,455,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at $255,000. Finally, Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners now owns 17,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,894,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.53.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock opened at $166.35 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $168.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.42. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $153.52 and a 1-year high of $180.43. The company has a market cap of $390.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.49, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.45.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued 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. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 32.88% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.66 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.01%.

Insider Activity

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

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.