Natixis Advisors LLC Purchases 121,065 Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,517,791 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 121,065 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $254,458,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.9% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,503,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,432,000 after buying an additional 56,583 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.0% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,442,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 14.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,734,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $820,031,000 after buying an additional 608,168 shares during the last quarter. United Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.7% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 13,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,315,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 43.8% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 5,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $896,000 after buying an additional 1,575 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,274.66. This represents a 44.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total transaction of $14,819,328.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. This trade represents a 34.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 143,450 shares of company stock valued at $23,988,008. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of PG opened at $168.20 on Friday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12-month low of $153.52 and a 12-month high of $180.43. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $167.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $394.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The company had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 64.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PG. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $173.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.47.

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.