The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Position Reduced by Opus Capital Group LLC

Opus Capital Group LLC decreased its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 116,650 shares of the company’s stock after selling 545 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble accounts for about 2.8% of Opus Capital Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Opus Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $17,094,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Wyrmwood Management LLC bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Mendota Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 636.6% in the fourth quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the second quarter valued at about $50,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 206.6% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the period. Finally, Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 49.7% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PG traded up $1.01 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $156.96. 6,560,070 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,851,329. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $141.45 and a 12 month high of $163.14. The firm has a market cap of $369.33 billion, a PE ratio of 26.12, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $159.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $152.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.14. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 34.04%. The company had revenue of $21.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.59 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 62.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 74,443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.30, for a total transaction of $11,412,111.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 973 shares in the company, valued at $149,160.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total value of $15,618,683.28. Following the sale, the insider now owns 163,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,097,637.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 74,443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.30, for a total transaction of $11,412,111.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,160.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. 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 note on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.53.

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.