Welch & Forbes LLC Sells 5,396 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Welch & Forbes LLC cut its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 800,581 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,396 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble accounts for about 1.8% of Welch & Forbes LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $117,317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dfpg Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 24,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,680,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 6.3% in the third quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 26,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,897,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 115,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,858,000 after acquiring an additional 15,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 14.6% in the third quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 94,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,772,000 after acquiring an additional 12,016 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total value of $620,719.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,908,891.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.90, for a total transaction of $5,049,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,586,483.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total value of $620,719.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,908,891.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 86,865 shares of company stock valued at $14,059,180 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

PG traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $164.44. The company had a trading volume of 5,470,365 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,902,192. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business has a 50-day moving average of $160.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $154.37. The company has a market cap of $388.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.43. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $141.45 and a 1 year high of $164.98.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $20.20 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.55 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $1.0065 dividend. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 65.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com cut Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Truist Financial upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.76.

Procter & Gamble Company 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.