Apella Capital LLC Acquires 2,783 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Apella Capital LLC grew its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG - Free Report) by 23.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,462 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,783 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC's holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $2,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter worth $5,244,463,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 20,758.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,951,456 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,355,087,000 after purchasing an additional 7,913,335 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,010,685,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1,195.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 3,222,585 shares of the company's stock valued at $580,596,000 after buying an additional 2,973,757 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,398,120 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,240,294,000 after buying an additional 2,846,560 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 10,520 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $1,669,208.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 25,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,995,627.94. This represents a 29.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.38, for a total transaction of $161,380.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 51,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,386,111.70. This trade represents a 1.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 target price on Procter & Gamble and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Redburn Atlantic cut Procter & Gamble from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $161.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $178.86.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of PG traded down $3.33 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $162.62. The stock had a trading volume of 10,342,685 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,318,117. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.37. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $156.58 and a 12 month high of $180.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market capitalization of $381.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.01. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The firm had revenue of $19.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st were paid a $1.0568 dividend. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 21st. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. Procter & Gamble's payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

About Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.