Graham Capital Management L.P. Acquires 18,011 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Graham Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 78.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,015 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,011 shares during the quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $6,876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,807 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,812,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Tevis Investment Management increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Tevis Investment Management now owns 11,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,950,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 2,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alhambra Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC now owns 5,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $970,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $164.00 to $177.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.52.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock opened at $157.73 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $165.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.57. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $156.58 and a one year 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 $369.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.12, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.01. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm had revenue of $19.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $1.0568 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.38, for a total transaction of $161,380.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,386,111.70. This trade represents a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total transaction of $3,089,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,274.66. The trade was a 44.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 64,520 shares of company stock valued at $10,999,268. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Procter & Gamble

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.