Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Boosts Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 383,272 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,582 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $64,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. RiverFront Investment Group LLC grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 36,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,085,000 after purchasing an additional 7,317 shares during the period. Horizon Investment Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC now owns 2,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 459,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,060,000 after purchasing an additional 29,240 shares during the period. Alerus Financial NA increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 81.4% in the 4th quarter. Alerus Financial NA now owns 42,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,181,000 after buying an additional 19,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vertex Planning Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC now owns 3,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $664,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total value of $3,089,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,274.66. The trade was a 44.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total value of $14,819,328.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. The trade was a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 143,450 shares of company stock worth $23,988,008. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.82.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of PG opened at $167.94 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $168.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.41. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $393.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12-month low of $153.52 and a 12-month high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.01%.

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.