Abacus Planning Group Inc. Raises Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Abacus Planning Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,692 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $954,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 5,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $963,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,807 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,812,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tevis Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Tevis Investment Management now owns 11,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,950,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group cut their target price on Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.53.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.6 %

PG stock opened at $166.46 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $166.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $153.52 and a 52-week high of $180.43. The firm has a market cap of $390.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.51, a PEG ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at $28,313,845.76. This trade represents a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total transaction of $8,604,804.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,189,463.68. This represents a 54.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble 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.