Convergence Investment Partners LLC Grows Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Convergence Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,996 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $879,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC now owns 34,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,436,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the period. RiverFront Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,670,000. Stonebrook Private Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $837,000. Investment Partners LTD. raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 10,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 2,317 shares during the period. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. now owns 4,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of PG stock traded down $1.26 on Friday, hitting $161.29. 5,659,784 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,820,118. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.69. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $141.45 and a one year high of $164.32. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $380.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.44.

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

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,858,265.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total transaction of $7,020,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $151,788. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 100,865 shares of company stock valued at $16,029,280 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PG. StockNews.com lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.