Lafayette Investments Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG)

Lafayette Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG) by 7.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,501 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 248 shares during the quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 933.3% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Hoey Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 321.7% in the 4th quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 1,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.38, for a total value of $161,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 51,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,386,111.70. The trade was a 1.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 10,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were 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 approximately $3,995,627.94. This trade represents a 29.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Redburn Partners set a $161.00 price objective on Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Erste Group Bank lowered Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $164.00 to $177.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped 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. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.45.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of PG opened at $160.00 on Friday. Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $156.58 and a twelve month high of $180.43. The company has a market capitalization of $375.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.68 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $162.44 and a 200 day moving average of $165.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $19.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.42 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 32.67% and a net margin of 18.46%. The company’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st were given a $1.0568 dividend. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 21st. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 67.14%.

About Procter & Gamble

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.