Summit Global Investments Boosts Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Summit Global Investments increased its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 108.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,914 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 11,938 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $3,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Mendota Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 636.6% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.90, for a total transaction of $5,049,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 9,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,586,483.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.90, for a total transaction of $5,049,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 9,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,586,483.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $768,256.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 86,865 shares of company stock worth $14,059,180 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on PG. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PG traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $164.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,577,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,918,823. The firm has a market capitalization of $388.15 billion, a PE ratio of 26.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $159.94 and a 200 day moving average of $154.04. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $141.45 and a twelve month high of $164.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The company’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 65.69%.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.