United Asset Strategies Inc. Purchases 1,689 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

United Asset Strategies Inc. raised its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,674 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,689 shares during the quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $3,030,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Mendota Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 636.6% during the 4th quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 206.6% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 417 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the period. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 49.7% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total transaction of $15,618,683.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at $25,097,637.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total transaction of $122,693.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $768,256.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total transaction of $15,618,683.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at $25,097,637.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 279,063 shares of company stock valued at $43,187,745. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PG has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.53.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

PG stock traded up $0.93 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $156.38. 1,683,767 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,791,909. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $141.45 and a 52 week high of $163.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $367.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $152.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.64.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $21.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.48 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 34.04% and a net margin of 17.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.59 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 62.98%.

About Procter & Gamble

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It operates through five segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment offers conditioners, shampoos, styling aids, and treatments under the Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, and Rejoice brands; and antiperspirants and deodorants, personal cleansing, and skin care products under the Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Secret, and SK-II brands.