Fountainhead AM LLC Boosts Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Fountainhead AM LLC raised its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,852 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Fountainhead AM LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $711,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dfpg Investments LLC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 24,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,680,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the period. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 6.3% during the third quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 14.6% during the third quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 94,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,772,000 after acquiring an additional 12,016 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,003,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,298,184,000 after acquiring an additional 131,339 shares during the period. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 105.5% during the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 59,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,699,000 after acquiring an additional 30,473 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on PG shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.88.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total transaction of $15,618,683.28. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,097,637.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total value of $3,549,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 36,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,943,835.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total transaction of $15,618,683.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,097,637.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 279,918 shares of company stock worth $43,323,263. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

PG traded up $0.96 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $161.50. The stock had a trading volume of 7,642,490 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,968,534. The firm has a market cap of $380.01 billion, a PE ratio of 26.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.44. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $141.45 and a 12 month high of $163.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.26.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.77%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. Analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 65.85%.

About Procter & Gamble

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.