HTLF Bank Makes New $4.51 Million Investment in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

HTLF Bank bought a new position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 30,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,511,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 46,754,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,936,343,000 after purchasing an additional 510,559 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,320,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,717,246,000 after buying an additional 4,959,527 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 96,526.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,535,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,840,449,000 after buying an additional 38,495,676 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 9.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,193,916,000 after acquiring an additional 3,047,557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,313,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,275,616,000 after acquiring an additional 670,862 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total transaction of $122,693.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at $768,256.49. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total value of $620,719.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,908,891.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total transaction of $122,693.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $768,256.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 279,063 shares of company stock valued at $43,187,745 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.53.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:PG traded down $1.30 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $155.99. 4,395,452 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,828,502. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $141.45 and a 12 month high of $163.14. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $159.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $152.83. The company has a market cap of $367.05 billion, a PE ratio of 26.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 34.04%. The firm had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. 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 2.58%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.98%.

About Procter & Gamble

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.