Flputnam Investment Management Co. Cuts Stock Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. lessened its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 92,521 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,665 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $13,558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 510,559 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,320,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,717,246,000 after acquiring an additional 4,959,527 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 96,526.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,535,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,840,449,000 after acquiring an additional 38,495,676 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.4% during the 3rd 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 boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,313,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,275,616,000 after acquiring an additional 670,862 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PG shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Truist Financial raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at $768,256.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total value of $15,618,683.28. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at $25,097,637.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at $768,256.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:PG traded up $0.12 on Monday, reaching $155.45. 5,597,685 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,863,596. The business has a fifty day moving average of $159.32 and a 200-day moving average of $152.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $141.45 and a 52-week high of $163.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $365.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.14. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 34.04%. The firm had revenue of $21.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.59 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors 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 2.59%. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.98%.

Procter & Gamble 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.