Wambolt & Associates LLC Lowers Stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Wambolt & Associates LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 25.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,448 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,485 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble makes up about 1.0% of Wambolt & Associates LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Wambolt & Associates LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $3,261,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 229,794,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,524,976,000 after buying an additional 1,592,061 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,538,327,000 after acquiring an additional 3,619,466 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,556,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,599,554,000 after purchasing an additional 689,282 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,290,573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,692,813 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,133,850,000 after purchasing an additional 312,203 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PG has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, February 10th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $173.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $209.00 target price on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.47.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.68, for a total value of $6,078,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,829,817.68. This trade represents a 61.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. The trade was a 34.36 % 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 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.6 %

PG opened at $165.73 on Tuesday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $153.52 and a 12 month high of $180.43. The business has a 50-day moving average of $168.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $169.58. 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 capitalization of $388.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.66 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. Procter & Gamble’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. On average, 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 paid a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.01%.

Procter & Gamble Profile

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.