Freedom Investment Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,044 shares of the company’s stock after selling 980 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PG. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 1.0% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,442,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,734,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $820,031,000 after purchasing an additional 608,168 shares during the period. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the third quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Invst LLC increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.7% in the third quarter. Invst LLC now owns 15,889 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,752,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,632,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total value of $14,819,328.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total transaction of $3,089,880.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,274.66. This represents a 44.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 143,450 shares of company stock worth $23,988,008 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial upped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $173.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.50.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock opened at $170.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $400.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.16, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.43. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $153.52 and a 1 year high of $180.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $168.39 and its 200 day moving average is $168.51.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The business had revenue of $21.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a $1.0568 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 67.20%.

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.