Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Has $6.56 Million Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 44,759 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble accounts for about 1.2% of Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $6,559,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Carmignac Gestion grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 24.5% in the 4th quarter. Carmignac Gestion now owns 203,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,760,000 after buying an additional 39,955 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 12,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,886,000 after buying an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 182,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,799,000 after buying an additional 7,260 shares during the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 37,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,517,000 after buying an additional 9,187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial raised Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a report on Monday, March 11th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Procter & Gamble stock traded down $1.26 on Friday, reaching $161.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,659,784 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,820,118. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $380.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.35, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.44. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $159.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.51. The Procter & Gamble Company has a twelve month low of $141.45 and a twelve month high of $164.32.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The business’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date 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 is 65.85%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total transaction of $7,020,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $151,788. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total value of $7,020,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 973 shares in the company, valued at $151,788. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total value of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,858,265.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 100,865 shares of company stock valued at $16,029,280 over the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.