Abacus Planning Group Inc. Buys 255 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Abacus Planning Group Inc. grew its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,692 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $954,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PG. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the third quarter worth $33,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 972.0% in the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Costello Asset Management INC grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2,142.9% in the third quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 46.7% in the fourth quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE PG opened at $166.46 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $166.13 and a 200-day moving average of $169.44. The firm has a market cap of $390.33 billion, a PE ratio of 26.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.45. 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 Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $153.52 and a 1-year high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total value of $14,819,328.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 54.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PG shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group reduced their target price on Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.53.

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.