J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Purchases 12,334 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG - Free Report) by 31.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 52,093 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,334 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $7,634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PG. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Wyrmwood Management LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Mendota Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 636.6% during the fourth quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 302 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 206.6% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 417 shares of the company's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $168.00 price target for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $168.53.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PG traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $158.02. 12,028,669 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,932,996. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $159.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $152.92. The stock has a market cap of $371.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.47, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.44. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $141.45 and a one year high of $163.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 34.04%. The company's revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble's payout ratio is presently 67.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at $768,256.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at $768,256.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total transaction of $15,618,683.28. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,097,637.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 279,063 shares of company stock valued at $43,187,745. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.