Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. Purchases New Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. acquired a new position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 8,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,295,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PG. Demars Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 1,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Emerald Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $553,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Mechanics Financial Corp increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 16,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,372,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, LWM Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. LWM Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $461,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 21,388 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.98, for a total transaction of $3,528,592.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,854 shares in the company, valued at $6,080,172.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 21,388 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.98, for a total value of $3,528,592.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,080,172.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,859 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value of $5,253,549.10. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 9,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,605,961.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 140,112 shares of company stock worth $22,841,321. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on PG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Procter & Gamble in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

NYSE PG traded down $0.71 on Wednesday, reaching $165.05. 4,579,411 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,870,830. The firm has a market capitalization of $389.54 billion, a PE ratio of 27.06, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.43. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $141.45 and a one year high of $166.37. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $160.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $154.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The firm’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. Analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.