Van ECK Associates Corp Grows Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 466,497 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,163 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $78,208,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the third quarter worth $33,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 972.0% in the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 268 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Costello Asset Management INC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2,142.9% in 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 last quarter. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, 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 $28,313,845.76. The trade was a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 11,595 shares in the company, valued at $2,002,804.35. This represents a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 151,097 shares of company stock valued at $25,635,076 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.9 %

PG opened at $171.15 on Friday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $153.52 and a one year high of $180.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $401.33 billion, a PE ratio of 27.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $166.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.76.

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

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on PG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. 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. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.53.

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.