Sapient Capital LLC Invests $10.51 Million in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 71,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,511,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PG. Wyrmwood Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Mendota Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 636.6% in the 4th quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $56,000. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total transaction of $620,719.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at $1,908,891.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $1,858,265.43. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total transaction of $620,719.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,908,891.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 86,865 shares of company stock worth $14,059,180 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on PG shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Procter & Gamble stock traded up $0.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $164.46. The company had a trading volume of 5,581,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,941,715. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $141.45 and a fifty-two week high of $164.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $388.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $160.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $154.17.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The firm had revenue of $20.20 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.85%.

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.