Balentine LLC Has $1.68 Million Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Balentine LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG - Free Report) by 27.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,988 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,871 shares during the period. Balentine LLC's holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,675,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.5% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 94,109 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,300,000 after buying an additional 4,035 shares during the period. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the third quarter worth about $668,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $569,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,898,569 shares of the company's stock worth $484,583,000 after buying an additional 201,695 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 185,134 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,065,000 after buying an additional 6,077 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on PG. Barclays raised their price target on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $180.53.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $167.45 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market cap of $392.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $153.52 and a 12 month high of $180.43. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $167.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.66 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. Procter & Gamble's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. Procter & Gamble's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 172,814 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,313,845.76. This trade represents a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $2,210,944.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,595 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,002,804.35. This trade represents a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 151,097 shares of company stock valued at $25,635,076. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.

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