Bell Bank Cuts Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Bell Bank lowered its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,964 shares of the company’s stock after selling 158 shares during the period. Bell Bank’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,698,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PG. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 40,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,717,000 after purchasing an additional 13,617 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at about $50,049,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 493.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 341,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,294,000 after purchasing an additional 284,174 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 43,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,310,000 after purchasing an additional 2,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 32,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,476,000 after acquiring an additional 4,037 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $160.79 on Tuesday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12-month low of $156.58 and a 12-month high of $180.43. The company has a market capitalization of $376.99 billion, a PE ratio of 25.60, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a 50 day moving average of $163.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $166.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $19.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.42 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $1.0568 per share. This represents a $4.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 21st. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Procter & Gamble from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Erste Group Bank lowered Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.86.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.38, for a total transaction of $161,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,386,111.70. The trade was a 1.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 10,520 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $1,669,208.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 25,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,995,627.94. The trade was a 29.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

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.