Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. Raises Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,056 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 135 shares during the quarter. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of PG stock opened at $167.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.76. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $153.52 and a fifty-two week high of $180.43. The firm has a market cap of $394.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $168.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.39.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 32.88%. The business had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 64.17%.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of Procter & Gamble 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,595 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at $28,313,845.76. The trade was a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 151,097 shares of company stock valued at $25,635,076. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PG. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group cut their target price on Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently 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.