ST. Nicholas Private Asset Management Inc. Buys New Shares in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

ST. Nicholas Private Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 12,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,012,000. Procter & Gamble makes up about 1.8% of ST. Nicholas Private Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 4.5% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 94,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,300,000 after buying an additional 4,035 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 55,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,374,000 after buying an additional 1,818 shares during the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble during the third quarter worth $668,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth $569,000. Finally, Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. now owns 123,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,764,000 after purchasing an additional 2,568 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, February 10th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.53.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $170.17 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $166.04 and a 200 day moving average of $169.45. The stock has a market cap of $399.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.45. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $153.52 and a 12 month high of $180.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. The company 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%. Procter & Gamble’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 64.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at $7,189,463.68. The trade was a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of Procter & Gamble 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 sale, the insider now owns 172,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.