ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC Purchases 95 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 112,120 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble comprises 2.4% of ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $16,430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Provence Wealth Management Group increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 5,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $802,000 after purchasing an additional 853 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at about $10,511,000. W Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. W Advisors LLC now owns 5,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $825,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 115,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,910,000 after acquiring an additional 12,017 shares during the period. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 77,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,414,000 after acquiring an additional 4,927 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.76.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.90, for a total value of $5,049,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 9,739 shares in the company, valued at $1,586,483.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.90, for a total value of $5,049,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,586,483.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total value of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,858,265.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 86,865 shares of company stock worth $14,059,180. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.4 %

Procter & Gamble stock traded up $0.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $164.46. The company had a trading volume of 5,581,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,941,715. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $160.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.17. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $141.45 and a 12 month high of $164.71. The company has a market capitalization of $388.15 billion, a PE ratio of 26.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 65.85%.

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.