Palisade Asset Management LLC Purchases 2,968 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Palisade Asset Management LLC increased its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 126,687 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,968 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble makes up 2.0% of Palisade Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $18,565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Centric Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 8,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,075,000 after acquiring an additional 752 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,209,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,336,552,000 after acquiring an additional 206,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Financial Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc now owns 11,330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,660,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total transaction of $620,719.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at $1,908,891.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $768,256.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total transaction of $620,719.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,908,891.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,112 shares of company stock worth $22,841,321 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on PG. Barclays boosted their price objective on 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 decreased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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 raised their target price on 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE PG traded down $0.69 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $165.07. 4,527,896 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,851,592. The firm has a market cap of $389.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.06, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $160.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $154.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12-month low of $141.45 and a 12-month high of $166.37.

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

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. 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 currently 65.69%.

Procter & Gamble 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.