California Public Employees Retirement System Grows Stock Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 17.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,492,039 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,387,539 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble comprises about 1.1% of California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.40% of Procter & Gamble worth $1,390,963,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Emerald Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $856,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schear Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 4,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $723,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE PG traded up $2.42 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $160.56. 8,925,924 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,958,951. The firm has a market capitalization of $377.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.32, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.02. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $141.45 and a twelve month high of $163.14.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.77% and a net margin of 18.00%. The business had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. Procter & Gamble’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.53 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. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total value of $122,693.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at $768,256.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total value of $122,693.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at $768,256.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 163,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,097,637.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745 over the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on PG. Truist Financial raised Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.76.

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.