The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Holdings Lifted by Massachusetts Wealth Management

Massachusetts Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,891 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 92 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,596,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 96,526.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,535,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,840,449,000 after purchasing an additional 38,495,676 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,752,321,000. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,320,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,717,246,000 after purchasing an additional 4,959,527 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 118.1% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,334,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $961,170,000 after purchasing an additional 3,429,929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 9.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,193,916,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047,557 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.35.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total value of $15,618,683.28. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,097,637.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 74,443 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.30, for a total transaction of $11,412,111.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,160.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total value of $15,618,683.28. Following the sale, the insider now owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at $25,097,637.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of PG opened at $156.10 on Monday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12-month low of $141.45 and a 12-month high of $163.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $367.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $159.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $152.42.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.14. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 34.04% and a net margin of 17.60%. The firm had revenue of $21.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.59 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Friday, January 19th were paid a dividend of $0.9407 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 18th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 62.98%.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It operates through five segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment offers conditioners, shampoos, styling aids, and treatments under the Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, and Rejoice brands; and antiperspirants and deodorants, personal cleansing, and skin care products under the Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Secret, and SK-II brands.