Southeast Asset Advisors LLC Has $871,000 Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Southeast Asset Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,194 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $871,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 229,794,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,524,976,000 after acquiring an additional 1,592,061 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 56,472,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,457,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,419 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,244,463,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,197,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,386,194,000 after purchasing an additional 1,209,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,692,813 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,133,850,000 after buying an additional 312,203 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

PG opened at $163.73 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $169.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.12. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $153.52 and a 52-week high of $180.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $383.92 billion, a PE ratio of 26.07, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The company had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 64.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,829,817.68. This trade represents a 61.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total value of $14,819,328.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 172,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 143,450 shares of company stock worth $23,988,008. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.00.

Procter & Gamble Company 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.