Augustine Asset Management Inc. Takes Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Augustine Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 2,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $493,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 972.0% in the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Costello Asset Management INC grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2,142.9% during the third quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 46.7% during the fourth quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 330 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.53.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $2,210,944.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,002,804.35. This represents a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $7,189,463.68. The trade was a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 151,097 shares of company stock valued at $25,635,076. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $169.53 on Wednesday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $153.52 and a 1 year high of $180.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $397.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $167.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.66 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. Procter & Gamble’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 64.17%.

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.