Centaurus Financial Inc. Boosts Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 15.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,289 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,482 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,654,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Wyrmwood Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total value of $135,517.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $634,634. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total transaction of $135,517.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,004 shares in the company, valued at $634,634. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,858,265.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 154,544 shares of company stock valued at $25,413,051 over the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:PG traded up $0.38 during trading on Friday, reaching $166.79. 3,694,974 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,965,412. The firm has a market capitalization of $393.65 billion, a PE ratio of 27.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $163.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $157.46. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12-month low of $141.45 and a 12-month high of $168.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

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

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th were issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Argus increased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble 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.