Criterion Capital Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Dfpg Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 24,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,680,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 94,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,772,000 after purchasing an additional 12,016 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,003,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,298,184,000 after purchasing an additional 131,339 shares during the period. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 105.5% during the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 59,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,699,000 after purchasing an additional 30,473 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PG shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.53.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock opened at $158.14 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $159.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $372.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.84, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.44. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $141.45 and a twelve month high of $163.14.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.77% and a net margin of 18.00%. The firm had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.53 earnings per share 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 given a $1.0065 dividend. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.85%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total value of $122,693.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $768,256.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was 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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 74,443 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.30, for a total value of $11,412,111.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,160.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745 in the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.