Belmont Capital LLC Grows Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Belmont Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG - Free Report) by 42.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,830 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,650 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble makes up approximately 0.8% of Belmont Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Belmont Capital LLC's holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $4,993,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.89, for a total value of $6,289,463.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 263,537 shares in the company, valued at $44,508,763.93. This represents a 12.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total value of $108,826.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,319,882.65. This represents a 3.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 270,727 shares of company stock worth $46,014,037 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on PG. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the company from $182.00 to $175.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $189.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Procter & Gamble from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $159.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $177.00.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

NYSE:PG traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $170.91. The company had a trading volume of 1,512,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,653,249. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The business's 50 day moving average price is $170.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $168.45. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $142.50 and a 1-year high of $177.94. The firm has a market cap of $402.50 billion, a PE ratio of 29.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.42.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The company had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble's payout ratio is 69.48%.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

The Procter & Gamble Company engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. The company 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, SK-II, and Native brands.