Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. Buys New Shares in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 5,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $762,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PG. Arlington Partners LLC lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 160.2% in the 3rd quarter. Arlington Partners LLC now owns 21,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,156,000 after purchasing an additional 13,319 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter valued at $256,000. Channel Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 13.3% in the third quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 13,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,026,000 after purchasing an additional 1,631 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 21,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 3,785 shares during the period. Finally, Compton Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Compton Financial Group LLC now owns 1,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total value of $620,719.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,908,891.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 21,388 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.98, for a total value of $3,528,592.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,080,172.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 140,112 shares of company stock worth $22,841,321. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:PG traded down $0.69 on Wednesday, reaching $165.07. The stock had a trading volume of 4,543,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,870,423. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $160.23 and a 200 day moving average of $154.49. The stock has a market cap of $389.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.43. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.76.

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.