Verum Partners LLC Acquires 394 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Verum Partners LLC lifted its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 6.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,840 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Verum Partners LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 933.3% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Hoey Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 321.7% in the fourth quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 1,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.38, for a total transaction of $161,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,386,111.70. The trade was a 1.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 10,520 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $1,669,208.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 25,182 shares in the company, valued at $3,995,627.94. The trade was a 29.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Raymond James dropped their price target on Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Redburn Partners set a $161.00 target price on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $200.00 to $181.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.86.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $164.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $384.53 billion, a PE ratio of 26.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $164.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $167.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $156.58 and a one year high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $19.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.42 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st were paid a $1.0568 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 21st. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.98%.

Procter & Gamble Profile

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.