GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. Increases Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. boosted its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1,214.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 257,531 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 237,934 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble makes up about 2.5% of GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $37,739,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PG. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 32,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,732,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582 shares in the last quarter. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 8.6% in the third quarter. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA now owns 46,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,733,000 after acquiring an additional 3,637 shares in the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 14,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,136,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. VeraBank N.A. grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 13,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,957,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arlington Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 160.2% in the 3rd quarter. Arlington Partners LLC now owns 21,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,156,000 after purchasing an additional 13,319 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price target on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.76.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total transaction of $620,719.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,908,891.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were 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 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 is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total transaction of $620,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at $1,908,891.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 86,865 shares of company stock valued at $14,059,180 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.4 %

PG opened at $164.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $141.45 and a 12 month high of $164.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $160.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.17. The stock has a market cap of $388.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The company’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.85%.

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.