Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. Buys 3,150 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,662 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,150 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble comprises 3.5% of Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $4,640,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.3% in the third quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 274,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,032,000 after buying an additional 3,463 shares during the last quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.7% in the third quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 13,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,015,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 3.5% in the third quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 9,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,374,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.3% in the third quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 now owns 11,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.3% in the third quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 32,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,781,000 after buying an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total value of $122,693.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $768,256.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total value of $7,020,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $151,788. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total value of $122,693.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $768,256.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 100,865 shares of company stock valued at $16,029,280. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PG shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Argus raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com cut Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

PG traded down $0.05 during trading on Thursday, hitting $162.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,093,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,973,202. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $141.45 and a twelve month high of $164.32. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $383.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.85%.

Procter & Gamble 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.