Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Boosts Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp grew its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 112,054 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,074 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $16,420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,193,916,000 after acquiring an additional 3,047,557 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,313,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,275,616,000 after purchasing an additional 670,862 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,003,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,298,184,000 after buying an additional 131,339 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,170,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,629,299,000 after buying an additional 346,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in Procter & Gamble by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,492,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,390,963,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387,539 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Truist Financial upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.81.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PG traded up $0.83 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $163.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 999,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,897,499. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $141.45 and a fifty-two week high of $164.32. The company has a market capitalization of $385.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.44.

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

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,858,265.43. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,858,265.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total value of $620,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at $1,908,891.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 100,865 shares of company stock valued at $16,029,280 in the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.