Southern Style Financial Inc. Acquires Shares of 15,121 The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Southern Style Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 15,121 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,534,000. Procter & Gamble accounts for about 2.1% of Southern Style Financial Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PG shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $209.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Procter & Gamble to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $180.53.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

PG traded up $1.20 during trading on Thursday, hitting $167.43. The stock had a trading volume of 4,132,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,479,979. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $153.52 and a one year high of $180.43. The firm has a market cap of $394.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $168.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 32.88%. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. The business's revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. Procter & Gamble's dividend payout ratio is 64.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 172,814 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. This trade represents a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total value of $8,604,804.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at $7,189,463.68. This trade represents a 54.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 151,097 shares of company stock valued at $25,635,076 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Procter & Gamble 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.