The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,819,574 shares of the company’s stock after selling 137,119 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble accounts for about 0.5% of Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $266,523,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Mendota Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 636.6% in the fourth quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 206.6% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE:PG traded down $1.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $161.29. The stock had a trading volume of 5,659,784 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,820,118. The company has a market capitalization of $380.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.44. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $141.45 and a 1-year high of $164.32. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $159.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $153.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

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

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $1.0065 dividend. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 65.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $168.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Truist Financial raised Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.76.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total value of $7,020,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 973 shares in the company, valued at $151,788. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total value of $7,020,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 973 shares in the company, valued at $151,788. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the business’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 value of $4,581,309.81. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,858,265.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 100,865 shares of company stock worth $16,029,280 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.