Sage Investment Counsel LLC Purchases Shares of 1,287 The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Sage Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PG. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 416.1% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,818,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,016,000 after buying an additional 1,466,115 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,503,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,432,000 after buying an additional 56,583 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.0% in the 3rd 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. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter valued at about $181,000. Finally, Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. now owns 9,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,673,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PG. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on 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 issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Procter & Gamble from $173.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 90,450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.84, for a total value of $14,819,328.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 172,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,313,845.76. This represents a 34.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total value of $3,089,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 22,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,274.66. The trade was a 44.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

PG stock opened at $173.84 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $407.63 billion, a PE ratio of 27.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.45. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1 year low of $153.52 and a 1 year high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.66 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were given a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 64.01%.

Procter & Gamble Company 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.