The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Stock Position Reduced by Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc.

Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,981 shares of the company’s stock after selling 192 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble makes up about 1.6% of Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $4,691,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PG. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Costello Asset Management INC lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2,142.9% in the 3rd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 58.0% in the fourth quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 138.7% during the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble during the third quarter valued at about $70,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PG. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.53.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

NYSE PG opened at $166.35 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $390.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.49, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $153.52 and a twelve month high of $180.43. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.42.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 32.88% and a net margin of 18.35%. The business had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 64.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $2,210,944.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,002,804.35. This trade represents a 52.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at $28,313,845.76. The trade was a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 151,097 shares of company stock worth $25,635,076 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Procter & Gamble

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.