Stevens Capital Management LP Purchases New Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Stevens Capital Management LP purchased 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 Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 16,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,423,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Dfpg Investments LLC grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.7% during the 4th 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 grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 6.3% during the 3rd 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 grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 14.6% during the 3rd 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. grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.8% during the 3rd 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 grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 105.5% during the 4th 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at $1,858,265.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 available at the SEC website. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,858,265.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 100,865 shares of company stock valued at $16,029,280. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

NYSE:PG traded down $1.26 on Friday, hitting $161.29. The company had a trading volume of 5,659,514 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,957,020. The stock has a market capitalization of $380.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.30, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $159.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $153.39. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $141.45 and a 52 week high of $164.32.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $20.20 billion during 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 33.91%. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PG. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Argus upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.