HighTower Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,511,046 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 215,226 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble accounts for 0.6% of HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.11% of Procter & Gamble worth $420,977,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 933.3% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 972.0% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on PG. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $173.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.47.

Insider Activity

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.68, for a total transaction of $6,078,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at $3,829,817.68. This represents a 61.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 1.8 %

PG stock opened at $173.07 on Wednesday. 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 Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $153.52 and a twelve month high of $180.43. The company’s 50 day moving average is $167.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.84. 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.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $21.88 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

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

Procter & Gamble Company 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.