Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. Boosts Stake in Procter & Gamble Company (The) $PG

Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG) by 3.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 581,042 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 20,243 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble accounts for about 1.5% of Crawford Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $89,277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter worth about $5,099,644,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 15,971.7% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,012,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,117,270,000 after purchasing an additional 6,969,110 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.4% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 233,211,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,155,222,000 after purchasing an additional 3,189,111 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 21.4% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 16,374,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,608,785,000 after buying an additional 2,880,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 26.3% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 10,682,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,606,748,000 after buying an additional 2,222,560 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 1,809 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total value of $288,463.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,215 shares in the company, valued at $4,818,083.90. The trade was a 5.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 5,549 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.29, for a total value of $917,194.21. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $170,083.41. The trade was a 84.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 348,618 shares of company stock valued at $55,462,643 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on PG shares. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price target on the stock. Barclays set a $155.00 price target on Procter & Gamble in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.33.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.0%

PG opened at $150.57 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $153.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $151.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $349.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 0.37. Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $137.62 and a fifty-two week high of $174.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 32.21%. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $1.0568 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 23rd. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.67%.

Procter & Gamble Profile

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) is a multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble, P&G has grown into one of the world’s largest producers of branded consumer packaged goods. The company focuses on developing, manufacturing and marketing a broad portfolio of household and personal care products sold to consumers and retailers worldwide.

P&G’s product offering spans several core business categories, including Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric & Home Care, and Baby, Feminine & Family Care.