Apollon Wealth Management LLC Grows Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 32.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 83,152 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 20,449 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $12,185,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 106.2% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,134,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $898,943,000 after purchasing an additional 3,159,796 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,193,916,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047,557 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 13,850.3% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,747,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,601,000 after acquiring an additional 2,727,685 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 235.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,231,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $473,475,000 after acquiring an additional 2,268,805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble in the third quarter valued at $246,412,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total value of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at $1,858,265.43. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at $1,858,265.43. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,859 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total transaction of $5,253,549.10. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 9,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,605,961.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 118,724 shares of company stock valued at $19,312,729. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE PG traded up $1.32 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $165.76. The company had a trading volume of 6,374,243 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,896,868. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $141.45 and a one year high of $166.04. The stock has a market cap of $391.22 billion, a PE ratio of 27.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $160.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.37.

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. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The firm had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 65.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.76.

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.