ST. Nicholas Private Asset Management Inc. Takes $2.01 Million Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

ST. Nicholas Private Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 12,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,012,000. Procter & Gamble accounts for about 1.8% of ST. Nicholas Private Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $16,300,000 after buying an additional 4,035 shares during the period. Strategic Advisors LLC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 55,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,374,000 after purchasing an additional 1,818 shares in the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter worth about $668,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth about $569,000. Finally, Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. raised its stake 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. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 1.8 %

PG opened at $170.17 on Friday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $153.52 and a fifty-two week high of $180.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $399.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.10, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $166.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.45.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its 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 net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 64.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total value of $8,604,804.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,189,463.68. This represents a 54.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on PG. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.53.

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.