Breed s Hill Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 2,265 The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Breed s Hill Capital LLC acquired a new stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 2,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $332,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Demars Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 1,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 16,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,372,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, LWM Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. LWM Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $461,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of PG traded up $1.00 on Thursday, hitting $166.07. 4,670,607 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,846,383. 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 has a market capitalization of $391.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $160.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $154.57. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $141.45 and a 1 year high of $166.37.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The firm had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 65.69%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total value of $122,693.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at $768,256.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,859 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total value of $5,253,549.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 9,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,605,961.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total value of $122,693.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at $768,256.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,112 shares of company stock valued at $22,841,321 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price objective on the stock. Argus lifted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average 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.