90,000 Shares in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Purchased by Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd

Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 90,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,088,000.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 price target on Procter & Gamble and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised Procter & Gamble from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $164.00 to $177.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.52.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.68, for a total transaction of $6,078,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,829,817.68. This represents a 61.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 10,520 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $1,669,208.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 25,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,995,627.94. This represents a 29.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 64,520 shares of company stock worth $10,999,268 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of PG opened at $158.67 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $372.01 billion, a PE ratio of 25.27, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $165.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $167.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $156.58 and a 12 month high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.0568 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

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.