Davidson Trust Co. Increases Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Davidson Trust Co. increased its holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,252 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble comprises approximately 1.9% of Davidson Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Davidson Trust Co.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $2,968,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 96,526.4% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,535,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,840,449,000 after buying an additional 38,495,676 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter valued at $3,752,321,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Procter & Gamble by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,320,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,717,246,000 after buying an additional 4,959,527 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 118.1% during the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,334,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $961,170,000 after acquiring an additional 3,429,929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 106.2% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,134,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $898,943,000 after acquiring an additional 3,159,796 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 74,443 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.30, for a total value of $11,412,111.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,160.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total value of $15,618,683.28. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at $25,097,637.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 74,443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.30, for a total value of $11,412,111.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,160.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 279,063 shares of company stock valued at $43,187,745. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE PG traded down $1.56 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $155.73. 4,481,218 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,828,502. The stock has a market capitalization of $366.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $159.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $152.83. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $141.45 and a 12 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 the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 34.04% and a net margin of 17.60%. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PG. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.53.

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.