WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. Grows Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 6.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,101 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the quarter. WestHill Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 99,734.1% during the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 253,081,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,402,583,000 after acquiring an additional 252,827,976 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 161,843,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,064,473,000 after purchasing an additional 2,157,319 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 46,754,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,936,343,000 after purchasing an additional 510,559 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,320,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,717,246,000 after purchasing an additional 4,959,527 shares during the period. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 96,526.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,535,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,840,449,000 after buying an additional 38,495,676 shares during the last quarter. 63.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $166.00 to $154.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 12th. HSBC began coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Friday, September 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $179.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, November 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $177.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $165.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $165.83.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Procter & Gamble stock traded down $0.64 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $149.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,257,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,209,060. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $135.83 and a twelve month high of $158.38. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $149.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $150.62. The firm has a market cap of $352.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.39, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.47.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 18th. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $21.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.58 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.49% and a net margin of 18.30%. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 20th were issued a dividend of $0.9407 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 19th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.04%.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CAO Matthew W. Janzaruk sold 188 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.52, for a total value of $27,921.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,973.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Andre Schulten sold 40,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.61, for a total transaction of $6,069,281.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 36,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,491,240.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Matthew W. Janzaruk sold 188 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.52, for a total transaction of $27,921.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 626 shares in the company, valued at $92,973.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 96,088 shares of company stock worth $14,565,908. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.