Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Grows Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. increased its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,018 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $589,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PG. Wyrmwood Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Mendota Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 636.6% during the 4th quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 302 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 206.6% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total transaction of $620,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,908,891.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total value of $620,719.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,908,891.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total value of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at $1,858,265.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 100,865 shares of company stock valued at $16,029,280. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on PG shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock traded down $1.31 on Friday, hitting $161.24. 5,659,643 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,957,020. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $159.64 and its 200 day moving average is $153.51. The stock has a market cap of $380.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.35, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.44. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $141.45 and a 52-week high of $164.32.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.