Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Decreases Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 25,819 shares of the company’s stock after selling 329 shares during the quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $4,329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 972.0% in the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Costello Asset Management INC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2,142.9% in the third quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 58.0% in the fourth quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total value of $14,819,328.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. This trade represents a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 151,097 shares of company stock worth $25,635,076 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Procter & Gamble stock opened at $167.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $393.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.75, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $167.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.40. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $153.52 and a 52 week high of $180.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

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

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.17%.

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.