Strong Tower Advisory Services Buys 1,297 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Strong Tower Advisory Services increased its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,068 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,297 shares during the quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $2,023,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 94,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,300,000 after acquiring an additional 4,035 shares in the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the third quarter valued at approximately $668,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $569,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,898,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $484,583,000 after buying an additional 201,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 185,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,065,000 after buying an additional 6,077 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Procter & Gamble stock opened at $161.35 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $379.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.82, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $169.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.46. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $146.28 and a fifty-two week high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.25% and a net margin of 17.07%. The business had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.99, for a total transaction of $2,163,072.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,954,538.34. The trade was a 52.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 73,447 shares of company stock valued at $12,978,820 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PG shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $167.00 to $161.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $163.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.65.

Procter & Gamble 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.