Beacon Financial Group Buys 224 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Beacon Financial Group increased its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,305 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. Beacon Financial Group’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,560,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 972.0% during the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Costello Asset Management INC grew its position 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 worth $54,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 46.7% during the fourth quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of PG opened at $169.53 on Wednesday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $153.52 and a 12 month high of $180.43. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $167.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market cap of $397.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total transaction of $8,604,804.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,189,463.68. The trade was a 54.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,002,804.35. This represents a 52.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 151,097 shares of company stock worth $25,635,076. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on PG. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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. Barclays increased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price target 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 given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.53.

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.