Essential Planning LLC. Invests $11.87 Million in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Essential Planning LLC. acquired a new position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 69,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,873,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 933.3% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 972.0% in the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 268 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PG has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.47.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

NYSE:PG opened at $173.07 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $405.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.56, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $153.52 and a one year high of $180.43. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $167.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

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

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total value of $14,819,328.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 172,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total transaction of $3,089,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,274.66. This trade represents a 44.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 143,450 shares of company stock valued at $23,988,008 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.