Valmark Advisers Inc. Grows Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,760 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,090 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $10,689,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth about $1,667,000. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $662,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. James Investment Research Inc. increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. James Investment Research Inc. now owns 88,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,849,000 after purchasing an additional 15,835 shares in the last quarter. Lee Financial Co boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Lee Financial Co now owns 2,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 7,089 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,188,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.53.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 4.8 %

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $162.84 on Monday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52 week low of $153.52 and a 52 week high of $180.43. The company’s 50 day moving average is $166.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.46. 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 $381.84 billion, a PE ratio of 25.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.45.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The company had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 64.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $2,210,944.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,595 shares in the company, valued at $2,002,804.35. This represents a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was 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 approximately $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 151,097 shares of company stock worth $25,635,076. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

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.